Ice Age: Unravel
by Stubborn Saber
Summary: New arrivals are landing on Hyrax Island and most of them aren't too friendly, dark pasts filled with violence and deceit begin to present the herd with new threats, but how can they avoid them on an island? *Rated T due to violent and bloody scenes, continues on from my other Ice Age stories, OC's character descriptions are on my profile*
1. Prologue- Arrival

**Time for my second multi-chapter story to begin, to start it off I decided a quick prologue was needed to bring back an iconic Ice Age character, hope ya enjoy it!**

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 **Prologue- Arrival**

In the skies high above the deep blue ocean flew a lone vulture, it was a tranquil scene, the sun had set allowing the moon and every single star to shine through the dark yet clear sky lighting it up in suns absence; the only noise that could be heard was the occasional beats of the vultures jet black wings and the sound of small waves gently crashing back down into the sea. Vultures are creatures that are often associated as deaths henchmen, always seen circling and hanging around other animals that are nearly at the end of their journeys, but this was almost serene. There was only one thing that spoiled this deceiving mirage and brought back the large scavenging bird's undesirable reputation, laying limp in the talons of the hungry scavenger was a small grey saber-toothed squirrel otherwise known as Scrat.

Scrat was displaying no signs of life, he just laid there motionless, a lifeless shell that had lost all of his will to live, the accursed acorn had claimed his life, his sanity and his very soul and had then abandoned him in a mere instant; there was nothing left for Scrat I this world. In the distance an island came into view beyond the horizon, licking her beak the female vulture looked down at her next meal, Scrats unfortunate life would soon come to a swift end; for now in his dreams he relived all the ups and (mostly) downs that came from his lifelong nutty pursuit. The beginning of the ice age is where it all began, it seemed like a simple task at first after all it's not something he hadn't done before and how hard could it be to bury and store one acorn, but this one acorn refused to remain buried for long; each time he tried something always happened that could have cost Scrat his life, almost as if this nut had a will of its own.

Through the ice age Scrat was almost crushed by glaciers and struck by lightning, during global warming he fought a vulture hatchling for his precious acorn and almost drowned when the ice barrier dam melted and fell apart with him on it, later on during an odd part of his life Scrat met a crafty female saber-toothed squirrel Scratte who he instantly fell in love with, but all she wanted to do was steal HIS acorn. During the ensuing squabble for the accursed acorn the two saber-toothed squirrels ended up crashing all the way down to dino world, the change of scenery didn't distract these two from their objective however and the fighting continued on as if they were still in the ice age; whilst they were in dino world Scratte ripped of Scrats chest fur and they had a dance off under the moonlight which resulted in Scrat taking a low blow. Eventually Scrat did manage to get Scratte to fall for him after he saved her life, but it didn't last long, once again Scrat was seduced by the accursed acorn and he abandoned Scratte leaving her all alone in dino world.

Finally during his last escapade Scrat found the infamous Scratlantis after finding a treasure map carved into an acorn during the continental drift, this had to be the happiest moment in his entire life which caused a smile to creep across his sleeping form. Scratlantis was everything he could have possibly wished for and much more, happiness to Scrat however is a fleeting thing though which only lasts for brief moments and soon enough Scrat managed to submerge Scratlantis by pulling up the plug that was in the shape of a huge acorn and then it was all drained away leaving him alone in the middle of a burning hot desert. The horrifying memories continued to hound and haunt Scrat as he began to toss and turn unconsciously in the vulture's talons as they arrived at Hyrax Island, feeling her meal beginning to move caused her to instinctively tighten her grip on the presumed dead saber-toothed squirrel to avoid losing the carcass as she swooped under the Hyrax of Liberty statue.

Looking around for a suitable perch to roost on the female vulture was spoilt for choice there were several trees and rocky cliff ledges that would be perfect to rest up on for the night just at first glance; after scanning every possible venue the female vulture came to a snap decision and headed for a cliff face that was shaded by an overhang and had a single tree branch protruding out of it. As she prepared to land on her chosen perch the Scat's dream world shattered when he finally saw his beloved acorn falling out of his reach and into a pit of never ending darkness, unable to watch his worst nightmare any longer he awoke launching himself forward and screaming at the top of his lungs.

 **Scrat** (Shouting/Screaming) **:** "AAAAAHHHHH!"

In his full blown panic he wasn't paying attention to the fact that he was being carried through the air by a very hungry and now disappointed vulture, but it didn't take too long for it to click with him that he wasn't on land when he looked down and saw the jagged cliff face leading down to the beach. His screaming came to an abrupt, slowly he began to cast his gaze upwards to see why he was hanging thirty foot in the air and he came face to face with the female vulture who has now looking quite annoyed that her planned meal had appeared to have come back to life.

 **Scrat** (Frightened) **:** *Eyes open wide* "Eep."

 **Female Vulture** (Agitated) **:** "Well that's no good, can't eat you alive now can I." *Smirks evilly* "Oh well, it's an easy problem to rectify isn't it."

Landing on the hanging tree branch the female vulture childishly waved at Scrat after she finished her sentence and throw him down sending him hurtling towards the sharp and rocky cliff face, death seemed to be inevitable at this point as Scrat continued to scream at the top of his lungs as he fell to his doom. Covering his eyes and curling into a ball Scrat waited for the sharp pain, but it never came, when Scrat took a peak by opening up his fingers he found himself sliding down the steep and jagged cliff face on a chunk of solid ice and with that he began to scream again; speeding along down the cliff face his small ice sledge began to break apart as it was shredded by the friction generated by the small yet jagged surface leaving Scrat with a tiny circle of ice that he was using one leg to balance on. Suddenly the steep cliff face turned into a complete vertical drop and with no way to stop himself Scrat once again found himself free falling straight for the beach, grabbing a pair of large leaves from an over turned palm tree he attempted to use them as wings as he flapped his tiny arms, but it didn't work and he continued on his collision course with the ground.

Landing head first in the sand Scrat ended up completely buried with only his bush tail sticking out and pointing straight for the sky, ten seconds pass before a dizzy and nauseous saber-toothed squirrel bursts out from his sandy grave stumbling around failing to keep his balance; tumbling over the remains of his ice sledge Scrat watched several acorns spin around his head. As his vision began to straighten out again the spinning nuts all merged into one, rubbing his eyes in disbelieve Scrat couldn't believe his eyes, the accursed acorn was right in front of him sitting on an small iceberg that had drifted onto the island; the only negative thing in Scrat's mind right now was the fact that his acorn was under the paw of a young male saber. This saber had a dark grey pelt with a white under belly and down his back trailed a jet black stripe which branched off several times along his body, also his left fang was missing, only a jagged stump remained while his other fang has small at only six inches long; this was going to be tricky for Scrat to retrieve what was rightfully his, luckily for him this saber seemed to be out cold.

Sneaking up to the unconscious saber as quietly as he could manage Scrat crept onto the iceberg determined to once again be reunited with his nut no matter what the cost, turning his attention back to the mass of saber next to him again Scrat looked into the male saber's jaws and looked at the rows of razor sharp teeth that would be turned on him if he wasn't cautious. Gulping in fear Scrat hurried along to his acorn when he heard a silent yet low growl rubble from the saber's throat, now an arm's length away from his goal he was faced with the challenge of removing his acorn from underneath the saber's paw without waking him up; it didn't take long for him long to think of a plan when he spotted some twigs drifting in the water. Now armed with three twigs Scrat strategically used the twigs to balance the saber's paw which allowed him to finally grab the accursed acorn, with haste he removed the acorn and surprisingly the twigs did hold up the saber's paw as it didn't fall down and he remained asleep; Scrat was now unable to contain his happiness as he lovingly embraced the acorn and began to crazily dance around with it above his head emitting high pitched squeals and squeaks.

After he was done doing his little dance he stopped at the front of the iceberg with the saber's jaw directly in front of him, childishly Scrat began waving the acorn around in front of the unconscious saber's face whilst making taunting noises like he had beaten him in a competition, but then he made a fatal mistake. Scrat placed the acorn on the iceberg and used it to prop his left arm up as tensed up his right arm to display his small bicep and that's when an all to memorable cracking noise was heard, looking back at the acorn he picked it up and began to inspect it for any damage but found nothing wrong with it then his eyes widened as a shadow formed around him. Turning back once more to gaze upon the male saber Scrat found that he was now up and staring down at him, unable to move Scrat emitted a small grim chuckle and then he was sent flying through the air with one hard swipe from the saber's paw.

 **Scrat** (Screaming/Shouting) **:** "AAAAAHHHHH!" *Flies towards the forest*

Next the dark grey saber jumped onto the beach as the small iceberg shatters into ten different pieces, opening his eyes to reveal a pair of deep sapphire coloured orbs.

 **Male Saber:** "A new home… A new beginning."

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 **Yay I'm finally getting this posted after I've had it stuck in my mind for so long, lets see how it plays out eh, anyway did you guys like this first scene? Be sure to let me know by leaving a review of what you thought and I'll get the first scene up as soon as I can.**

 **(Unfortunately it may take a while for the next scene because of college work and a zoo trip coming up next Friday, won't be back til late next Sunday, so yeah, sorry if it's a long wait)**


	2. Trouble in paradise

**Surprisingly this story already has two favourites and followers from the prologue, I give a special thanks to these two people for that honor:**

 **Kitty saber45**

 **Acliptika**

 **Now, time for the actual start to 'Ice Age: Unravel', it has taken a while but I finally managed to get the time to finish it and here it is for your amusement, enjoy!**

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 **Scene 1- Trouble in paradise**

 **Ethan** (Relaxed/Calming) **:** "Relax Lou, just think of how epic this is going to look and stop worrying about the thousands of ways that this could go wrong, throw yourself into it and live for the moment."

 **Louis** (Hyperventilating/Panicking) **:** "N-No, I can't do this!" *Takes a long breath in before breathing out* "H-How did I even let _you_ convince _me_ that this was a _cool_ idea!"

 **Ethan** (Relaxed/Calming) **:** "Chill dude, it's only the Triple Drop. I've been down this plenty of times and so have the others, I'm sure-"

 **Louis** (Shouting/Panicking) **:** "ONLY THE TRIPLE DROP! We've only been living on this island for three and a half months now, I'm not ready to die yet!"

 **Ethan** (Whispering/Mumbling) **:** *Rolls eyes* "Oh for the love of, you try to help some people and…" *Looks over the side of the Triple Drop* (Calm) "Hey, isn't that Peaches down there looking for you?"

 **Louis:** "Peaches?" *Stops hyperventilating and approaches the Triple Drop*

 **Ethan** (Shouting) **:** "HEY PEACH, UP HERE!

With Ethan shouting at the top of his lungs from atop of the cliff edges he didn't only manage to catch Peaches attention, he caught the attention of every single teen in the new hangout zone, seeing this as the perfect opportunity he wasn't about to pass this up.

 **Ethan:** "Now's your time to shine Lou" *Nudges Louis over the edge with his trunk* "Go get her boy!"

 **Louis** (Shouting/Screaming **:** "WHAT THE HECK ETHAN!" *Speeds down the completely vertical water slide* "AAAAAHHHHH!"

Even though the herd was now living on an island in the middle of the deep blue ocean there was never a dull moment; Peaches had finally been given free rein to be with her friends and explore the island after her mother had a stern talking to and managed to convince a rather reluctant Manny, Crash and Eddie seemed to be pulling pranks on a regular basis again whilst Sid tried to accomplish the impossible, keep control of his vicious and foul tempered grandmother. After Diego and Shira had experienced there first major argument and near break up as a couple their bond only seemed to have strengthened, sure they had their little spats over petty subjects but with similarly stubborn personalities this was bound to happen, they seemed to be spending quite a bit more time away from the other herd members recently only returning at night to sleep in the herds cave. There didn't appear to be any special reason behind their disappearances and when anyone questioned them what they were getting up to whilst they were away they just give the same response of either we're going hunting, patrolling the island or getting away from Sid, the possum twins and Granny; there was no reason for anyone to get suspicious, after all they did need to feed and keeping watch over their territory was just natural behaviour for them, not to mention everyone needed a break from the more annoying herd members.

However it was now approaching a week since the sabers had last spent some quality time with the herd and this started to concern Manny and Ellie, after all it wouldn't kill them to be around everyone for a few hours and their hunts and patrols shouldn't take up all the hours of the day, so what was keeping them away for so long? The time was now midday and the sun was once again out and shining brightly over Hyrax Island, each herd member had set out to get on with their days activities, Peaches had once again gone to the teen meeting point on the island and had watched her best friend, Louis, put on a rather entertaining stunt. Diego and Shira were the last to rise which had started to become the norm these previous few days, the long days and late nights out were beginning to take their toll on the big cats yet they refused to give themselves a day's rest, the first one to awake with a big yawn and stretch was Diego.

 **Diego** (Sleepily grumbling) **:** "Argh, last ones to wake up again, this… not good."

Looking down to his right Diego noticed that Shira was still fast asleep next to him, her head and body facing him and it didn't seem like she was going to wake up anytime soon, for a few moments he just lie there watching her chest cavity gently rise and fall in time with her slow steady breaths, a smile began creeping across his face as he admired her sleeping form and thought back to the first time they confessed their love for each over atop the islands mountains. Normally he would give her an affectionate lick on the side of her muzzle and leave her be so she can rest peacefully whilst he set off on his regular morning sprint and hunt, unfortunately though he had to wake her up eventually as they still had a task to do even though it was proving to be exhausting; with this thought now stuck in his mind the smile began to fade from his face and he began to gently nudge her awake.

 **Diego:** *Nudges Shira with his fore arm* "Shira? Shira? Come on, we have to get moving."

 **Shira** (Sleepily grumbling) **:** "Urgh, Diegooo!" *Rolls over* "Five more minutes."

 **Diego:** *Lovingly licks Shira's right ear* "Sorry, but were out of time, look."

 **Shira** (Sleepily grumbling) **:** *Sighs* "Already."

Slowly Shira opened her right eye and then began to sit up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and blinking three times cleared up her vision allowing her to see her surroundings, an empty cave that's been illuminated by the risen sun's rays, the only other animal in here was her partner Diego who had just woke her up from her slumber.

 **Shira** (Dismay) **:** "Huh, Everyone's gone already… So we're the last ones up again." *Sighs and lowers her head* "How much longer will this take?"

 **Diego:** "… I don't know, but we have to leave now before we get stopped by someone… We can't let them know yet."

Shira opened her mouth to try and argue that it was time to give in and just tell the herd what was going on, but her voice seemed to cut off and she was unable to speak as she wasn't ready for this either, all Shira was able to do was nod her head in agreement. Getting up from their sleeping spot they were ready to bolt off and continue what they left unfinished yesterday, but as they existed herds cave they were greeted in the clearing by Manny and Ellie who had been waiting patiently for them to make their first appearance of the day.

 **Manny:** "Diego, Shira! You two sure took your time getting up this morning."

 **Diego:** "Hey Manny, look we'd like to stick around and chat but we seriously have to get going." *Walks by Manny and Ellie*

 **Manny:** "Whoa there, what's the big rush?"

 **Shira:** "Sorry guys, Diego's kind of in a rush to make up for lost time, we'll be back late again tonight..." *Follows after Diego* "We gotta get something to eat and do our rounds of the island again, later."

 **Ellie** (Concern) **:** "Guys wait! All we wanted was to have a group talk with just the four of us, you've been spending everyday away from everyone for the past week, nothing bad's happened right? Is there something going on that you're not telling us about?"

Diego and Shira stopped in their after Ellie asked them this, for some reason it seemed to put the two sabers on edge, Diego was insistent that they didn't have time to stand around and talk, Shira on the other hand thought that this would be a good way to alleviate the some of the stress that had begun to build up inside of her and Diego over the past few days.

 **Diego:** "Nothing's wrong with us if that's what you mean Ellie, we just don't have the time right now, maybe if it was a little earlier but-"

 **Ellie** (Concern) **:** "Well we didn't really have that option, you guys weren't exactly in a rush to get up this morning and with the time you two got back last night we thought that you could do with the rest."

 **Diego** (Sarcastic) **:** *Rolls Eyes* "Really, we hadn't noticed."

 **Manny** (Irritated) **:** "There's no need to be sarcastic Diego, can't you see that were worried for you both here? There has to be a good reason why you're both always away and we know it isn't just hunting and patrolling so TELL US, what's going on?

 **Diego** (Annoyed) **:** "Why are you so interested anyway, it doesn't concern you, can't you get it through your THICK SKULL!" *His voice gets louder and louder*

 **Manny** (Shouting/Angry) **:** "OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH! WE'RE ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU, OR HAVE YOU FORGOT, THAT'S WHAT YOU DO IN A HERD!" *Walks toward Diego and lowers his head to his level*

 **Diego** (Shouting/Angry) **:** *A low growl escapes his throat as he pushes his skull against Manny's* "YEAH WELL-"

 **Shira** (Shouting/Irritated) **:** *Rubs her forehead with her paw getting irritated * "WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP!"

Shira's sudden outburst caught everyone's attention as they quit arguing and turned her way, the frustration shown clearly on her face, her ears were laid back and she was frowning at Diego and Manny, they hadn't talked to each other for a long time and what's the first thing that happens when they finally do? They have a loud and obnoxious argument, not a good way to improve Shira's mood when she has only just gotten up.

 **Shira** (Relieved) **:** *Sighs* "Thank you. Now, we can't stay long but okay well have a short chat with you guys."

 **Diego** (Defeated) **:** "Shira you know we don't have time for this!"

 **Shira** (Calm) **:** "It can wait Diego." *Diego tries to speak but is interrupted by Shira* "If you're going to try and argue with me you can go by yourself."

Diego eventually caved in and agreed to come Manny and Ellie after Shira refused to change her mind, the group started to make their way to a small open clearing not too far from the herds cave, the journey there was silent and the atmosphere surrounding them was tense as Manny and Diego throw the occasional glare at the other. The clearing they were headed to was normally nice and quiet, a place that remained undisturbed by the commotion caused by the other noisy island inhabitants which made it a perfect spot to just kick back, relax and have a friendly chat with some good friends. Picking out a shady area on the right side of the clearing Ellie wandered over and sat down with Manny following straight behind her and then sitting down right next to her, Diego was about to continue walking past them but Shira ran up to his left flank and pushed him towards Manny and Ellie; he offered no resistance to this movement and soon enough the two sabers sat opposite the two mammoths, waiting for them to open up conversation.

 **Ellie** (Gentle) **:** "So… It's been a while since we've all sat together like this." *Lightly chuckles* "How have you two been doing?"

Shira notices that Manny's still glaring in their direction and takes a quick glance and Diego only to see him returning the unfriendly look, patting him gently with her left paw breaks up the distracting war that was silently going on between the two males.

 **Shira:** "Knock it off Diego. We're not doing too badly, there's been plenty of food available to keep us fed so we don't have to worry about starving anytime soon and it's been nice not having the possums or Sid around to pester and annoy us."

 **Diego** (Grumbling) **:** "Tell me about it, sometimes I just feel like throttling those little rats…"

Ignoring Diego's comment on her adopted possum brothers Ellie subtly tries to get Shira to open up and tell her what they had been getting up to away from the herd, wording her sentence wrong now could easily spark another argument, especially with Diego being in the mood that he's in right now; however she had to know because whatever was going on was starting to negatively affect their health which worried both her and Manny, even if he was bad at showing this right now.

 **Ellie** (Gentle) **:** "What can I say, those two boys have a creative way of expressing themselves and a bit too much energy, I don't even know where they get it from and Sid means well, I'm sure he doesn't mean to annoy anyone." *Warmly smiles*

 **Diego** (Grumbling/Sarcastic) **:** "Yeah, right."

Again Ellie ignored the snide comment she heard Diego grumbling under his voice and started to notice that Shira didn't seem to be paying full attention to what was being said, the white saberess was gazing off into space and had a rather anxious look in her eyes; seeing her friend like this confirmed her and Manny's suspicions, something had definitely happened which caused the saber's sudden absence.

 **Ellie** (Concern) **:** "Shira… Is something bothering you, you look as if you're daydreaming and why do you look so restless."

Hearing the amount of concern that was on Ellie's voice brought Shira back reality and as she looked at the pleading look in Ellie's eyes caused her to feel like her heart was being twisted, she looked back at Diego with the worry still clear in her eyes; he hesitated before giving her a small uncertain nod and then nuzzled her reassuringly.

 **Shira** (Nervous) **:** "Alright, we'll tell you…"

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 **Going to try and leave a few cliff hangers in Unravel for effect, after all it is partially a mystery story. Not sure when the next update will be, hopefully a lot earlier than this one was eh.**

 **Anyway to let me know what ya think of this starting scene leave a review to let me know what ya thought, to follow and/or favourite click the heart symbol somewhere on the page and aside from this I don't have anything else to say... so yeah, until next time, see ya then.**


	3. Dangerous rivals

**Done; damn I don't think I managed to update any faster than I did last time did I, hopefully you guys didn't mind the long wait. Anyway it's finally here so please enjoy scene 2 off 'Ice Age: Unravel'**

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 **Scene 2- Dangerous rivals**

 **Shira** (Nervous) **:** "Alright, we'll tell you…" *Sighs* "Where to even start? Well… It all began last week-"

As Shira began to tell their story to Ellie and Manny the sound of twigs snapping and rustling leaves rang out from the undergrowth right next to them, wasting no time Diego and Shira both sprang to their feet and begin to emit a low growl at the unknown intruder; Manny and Ellie were taken back from their saber friends sudden shift in attitude, back on the mainland continent they could understand the saber's caution, but they were on an island now and there had been no trace of any other predators. Slinking low down to the ground Diego began to cautiously advance toward the shaking bushes snarling and with his hackles raised, mentally prepared for battle and to be met with teeth and claws, when he was a foot away from the bushes they stopped shaking and for a few moments everything fell silent as time seemed to slow down; no one move an inch or made a single sound as the tension continued to rise, but nothing happened. Time slowly dragged itself along whilst Diego awaited in ambush ready to pin down the next creature he saw yet with nothing happening he was beginning to wonder if the unknown animal had fled, he began to investigate by sniffing the air to see if he could pick up a scent, he regretted this decision instantaneously.

 **Diego** (Afraid) **:** *Struggles to prevent himself from vomiting* "Oh no."

 **?** (Excited) **:** "DIEGO!"

Before anyone could ask Diego what was wrong or what had he smelt he found himself being tackled and placed in a headlock that was supposed to be a hug by their annoying sloth friend Sid; paralysed by the foul stench of sloth that hadn't bathed in months teamed with the surprise and force of this action caused Diego to stumble backwards and almost fall over rather embarrassingly for him, if Sid had managed to knock him over in front of everyone he would never hear the end of it.

 **Sid** (Happy) **:** *Holds Diego in an unrelenting headlock* "I really missed you buddy, it's been so long since I last saw you! I know you've been busy spending some alone time with Shira this past week but-"

Diego was beginning to lose his patience fast with Sid as he refused to let go of him even though he was clearly trying to pull away from him, he could also hear everyone else giggling or trying to stifle their laughter at his predicament and being very unsuccessful adding to his embarrassment.

 **Diego** (Irritated) **:** "Sid, do me a favour?"

 **Sid** (Cheerful) **:** "Sure thing old pal, what do ya need?"

 **Diego** (Angry) **:** "I'm going to give you to the count of three to get off me, oh and if you haven't let go of me within that time I'm going to skin you alive!"

 **Sid** (Nervous/Intimidated) **:** *Lets go and slowly backs away from Diego* "Heh, heh, heh… It's good to see you again too, you haven't lost your odd sense of humour hey."

With Sid now literally off of his back Diego turned back around and found his place next to Shira mumbling something inaudible under his breath as he slinked back sitting on his haunches, Sid watched Diego as he walked away from him and tried to listen into what he was muttering without any luck. Although it was no secret anymore that Diego and Shira were officially boyfriend and girlfriend seeing them together like this made Sid light up again as a mischievous smile began to grow across his face as he began to think on the reason why those two had been away frequently lately; he was fairly certain he already knew what they were getting up to on their little long distant trips which made them fair game for a bit of friendly teasing in his book.

 **Manny:** "Sid, what are you doing out here?"

 **Sid** (Happy) **:** "I was looking for Granny again, I still don't know how she manages to disappear like that…" *Glances back towards the sabers* "But then I heard you guys talking and I just had to see Diego and Shira again, it's been so long since the last time I saw you guys."

 **Shira:** "We are around every morning ya know? It's not like we've spent entire days away, why didn't you just talk to us then?"

 **Sid:** "Well I was going to wake you up this morning, but then Manny throw me out with Granny after she woke him up with her cane…" (Teasing) "Anyhow you two are exhausted every time you've gotten back each night, been having a bit too much fun lately eh?" *Wiggles eyebrows suggestively*

 **Shira** (Confused) **:** "…I have no idea what you're talking about sloth."

To Sid this just sounded like the crafty female saber was trying to make a convenient lie up on the spot in order to avoid the topic altogether, but he wasn't going to be fooled this time, rubbing his paws together he began to waddle up to the saber couple hastily, this was about to get entertaining.

 **Sid** (Teasing) **:** "Oh, it's that time of year again, you know when couples get together and then nature takes its course."

This just managed to confuse Shira even more as she started frowning at Sid whilst raising her right eyebrow, she looked towards Diego to see if he understood what Sid was getting at but he looked just as confused as she was; seeing the mammoths out of the corner of her eye it was clear that they were understood what Sid meant and looked highly amused by the topic that had been brought up. Shira couldn't help but feel that she should know what Sid was hinting towards whilst on the other hand Diego felt completely lost; this was starting to feel embarrassing and it wasn't just because she couldn't piece together what Sid meant, it was because she was normally a quick thinker and she felt like she had thought on this quite a few times since joining the herd and getting together with Diego, but right now her mind seemed to be completely blank. Diego tried to get Manny to help him out by looking his way with a pleading look in his eyes, the discomfort clearly written on his face, but Manny just shook his head and allowed a small quite chuckle to escape from him; Ellie also found it entertaining that the two sabers couldn't piece together what Sid was hinting towards but it was probably best that he quit his teasing now before he went too far.

Ellie was about to speak up and politely ask Sid to halt his little tease fest for now, however as she opened her mouth to do this Manny put his trunk in front of her and shook his head when she looked his way with a questioning look; with his sharp hearing Diego heard Manny whisper _'Let's just see how this plays out right now'_ to Ellie, as she nodded uncertainly in agreement Diego began to glare daggers at Manny and mentally swore to get his mammoth friend back for this.

 **Diego** (Thinking) **:** _'Alright I'll have to deal with that traitorous mammoth afterwards, but what could this stupid sloth babbling on about? It's the time of year when couples get together and nature takes its course? …Hmmm, WAIT, he couldn't actually be talking about_ _ **that**_ _now, could he?'_

 **Shira** (Irritated) **:** "Will you just spit it out already!"

 **Sid** (Gleeful) **:** *Laughs childishly* "Congratulations on becoming mates you two! To be honest I thought after your little spat that you guys wouldn't make it in time this year, but I guess you proved us all wrong hey, oh and when are the cubs-"

 **Diego + Shira** (Shocked/Shouting) **:** *Both jump up* "WHAT!"

 **Sid** (Confused) **:** "-due. Huh, what do you mean, what?" *Tilts his head slightly left"

 **Shira** (Shocked) **:** "You thought that we were actually…"

 **Diego** (Shocked/Embarrassed) **:** "Sid you idiotic sloth, just because we've been spending a lot of time alone together and haven't exactly been around recently doesn't mean that we've been…" *Lightly slaps his paw across his own face and sighs* (Annoyed) "…Why did you even… Argh, whatever, I'm out of here."

With this Diego got up and stormed out of the clearing heading towards his and Shira's regular hunting grounds, he already had been in a foul mood after arguing with Manny and given his mood now everyone could tell that he wasn't going to be stopped so they let him go; Ellie looked less than impressed with Manny since he stopped her from intervening and preventing this awkward moment from happening.

 **Ellie** (Whispering/Annoyed) **:** *Glares at Manny* "Happy now, you knew Diego's temper was on thin ice!"

 **Manny** (Whispering/Cautious) **:** "Yeah, but… Look at it this way at least we don't have to ask them that awkward question."

 **Shira** (Frustrated) **:** "I can hear every word you two are saying ya know, or did you forget that sabers have sensitive hearing?" *Recaptures the mammoths attention*

 **Sid** (Disappointed/Upset) **:** "…But, all the signs were there; it's the right season to start a family, you two spent an entire week alone together and when you returned each night you guys were exhausted. What's holding you guys back?"

What was left of Shira's patience was quickly whittling away, rolling her eyes at Sid's attempt to continue the topic on her and Diego's relationship Shira's didn't see the point in staying and answering these personal questions, preparing to leave in pursuit of Diego it was funny to her in a sad kind of way how Sid managed to make an unsettling moment even worse without even trying. As Shira was leaving an eerie silence was left in her wake as everyone was at a loss for words, the mammoths plan to find out what was bothering their saber friends was in shambles as they were now in no mood to talk thank to Sid, however even though the sloth wasn't bright he was persistent and as Shira left he began to follow her. The sound of Sid's clumsy footsteps tailing behind Shira stopped her in her tracks, she turned around to deal with the irritating and persistent herd member but found herself face to face with Ellie, this surprised her and she was unsure of how Ellie was able to get up and walk that silently considering her size but right now she didn't question it; the two females just stared into each other's eyes for a while before Ellie spoke up and broke the silence.

 **Ellie** (Worried) **:** "Shira, I'm sorry that this conversation has unsettled and annoyed you and Diego, but something has definitely been eating away at the two of you recently and causing you quite a lot of stress… So please, tell us what's bothering you."

The white saberess was hesitant to answer at first and was tempted to just continue on her way, but with the concern and worry that trailed out with Ellie's voice and the fearful look in the shemoths eyes she caved in.

 **Shira** (Nervous/Defeated) **:** "…The other week… Diego and I discovered that… there may be another saber may the island."

 **Manny** (Panic/Shouting) **:** "SABERS? HERE ON THIS ISLAND?"

Though Shira spoke quietly Manny still managed to hear what she had said from the other side of the clearing and hearing this sent his mind into a state of panic, a rogue or pack of sabers had been roaming loose on the island whilst he'd been unaware, the danger of the situation crashed through his mined like a hurricane as it hit him that they would be unable avoid it or them on an island. Getting to his feet as swiftly as he could he stomped over to Shira to get his questions answered.

 **Manny** (Panic/Fearful) **:** "Why did you wait to tell us this now? How many are there? How close are they to our side of the island?"

 **Shira** (Defensive) **:** "HEY we are dealing with it alright!"

 **Manny** (Panic/Annoyed) **:** "Hmph, someone could have been hurt or worse because you two decided that you could _'deal'_ with this problem on your own and didn't tell anyone else about this! If I had known this I would have kept a closer eye Peaches. Wait a minute where is… PEACHES!

Suddenly realising that he had no clue where Peaches was with this predatory danger now present Manny began to panic just as badly as the time he had when Ellie was pregnant with his sweet little angel, he started to run in straight lines back and forth rambling how they had to find Peaches now and make sure she was safe; picking up Sid with his trunk and throwing him on his back he ran off in search of his teenage daughter, leaving behind Ellie and Shira.

 **Ellie:** *Sighs* "He never changes, anyway do you know anything else about this or these new sabers?"

 **Shira:** "We don't know much, we've never actually caught sight of them but there can't be too many because they don't seem to have encroached past the scent markings we've left around our territory, they have repeatedly used the hunting grounds and left a few of their own markings though and each time it has a males scent; because of this I think that we're dealing with a rogue! If there is only one male saber out there then he is clever and quite strong, he covers up his scent trails to prevent us from finding him and has taken down animals that normally require coordination from a pack."

 **Ellie:** "Let's hope he's doesn't turn his attention to this side of the island then."

* * *

 **?** (Thinking) **:** _'Now that they've split up it's an opportune time to rid myself of these rival sabers, starting with that tawny furred male.'_

* * *

 **I don't know if anyone else has heard but the title for Ice Age 5 has been announced, it's apparently going to be called Collision Course, nothing else has been mentioned so far but I'm going to keep my eyes and ears out for more on that.**

 **Thank for the reviews you guys submitted for last chapter, loved hearing your opinions and what you guys were thinking so far, to tell me what ya thinking of this right now leave a new review for this scene, it is always much appreciated and I think I better get going to bed before I collapse from exhaustion. Bye for now guys eh.**


	4. Triple Drop aftermath Disturbing scene

**Another two week gap between updates, quite a while to keep you guys waiting, but I think quality is definitely better than a rushed mess, but no more waiting around here is Scene 3, enjoy guys!**

* * *

 **Scene 3- Triple Drop aftermath + Disturbing scene**

 **Louis** (Afraid) **:** "NO THANKS, I'm perfectly fine living in this hole for the rest of my life thank you!"

After what Louis would classify as a near death experience with the Triple Drop he had retreated away from the teens hang out and barricaded himself into a small hole in the ground with a large rock which he'd somehow managed to wedge in front of the entrance; Peaches, Ethan and Steffie had followed him and were now attempting to convince the cowering molehog to come out of there. So far it wasn't going well, even after thirty minutes with his friends reassuring him Louis still refused to budge, Peaches had been friends with him since they were only small kids and knew that he occasionally suffered from these panic attacks; she'd grown use to it however this was now starting to bug Ethan and Steffie, mainly Steffie.

 **Ethan** (Bored) **:** "Lou it's been thirty minutes now, come on out little dude, look I said I'm sorry so-"

 **Steffie** (Sassy/Annoyed) **:** "Oh what the heck Louis, seriously! Will you just suck it up and get out of there already!"

No answer came from Louis this time, all he wanted to do at this point was to just simply disappear so he would be left alone, he wasn't meaning to be ungrateful, but he was starting to feel quite uncomfortable. If Peaches was the only one outside his tiny hidey hole he would dig up and have a talk with her to help him calm down and collect his thoughts, but with the other mammoths there he felt insecure, he had tried to fit in with the other teen mammoths because Peaches had wanted nothing more than to be excepted by them and after he'd stood up to Gutt during the continental drift she seemed to have finally gotten what she'd wished for. He'd persevered for his best friend, continuously joined her as she hung out with the other mammoth teens and tried to join in their games and activities which is why he allowed himself to be convinced by Ethan to ride the Triple Drop this one time.

Given how he reacted to every new game or activity however Louis was beginning to realise that he could never really fit in with these guys which brought with it another terrifying thought, he was starting to lose his childhood friend and secret crush, Peaches. Louis adored her despite the fact that they were two completely different species and the thought of losing her caused him to feel like a heavy weight had been placed on his heart dragging his mood down to depressing levels; he'd like nothing more than to open up to Peaches, to tell her how nervous he feels around the other teens and confess his true feelings to her, but how could that possibly end well? She only saw him as a friend and if he told her how he actually felt towards her there's no telling how she'd react, he's a molehog and she's a mammoth, that goes a bit beyond being odd, so Louis kept it hidden deep down even though it hurt for the sake of their friendship.

 **Peaches:** "Sorry guys this could take a while, Louis kinda has these panic attacks every so often and after that stunt you made him do, _Ethan_ …"

Peaches shoots a glare Ethan's way which he tries to ignore, but when he meets her eyes after a while he gives her a shrug and a questioning look, he didn't really get what he's done wrong, all he had done was give Louis a little encouraging nudge.

 **Peaches:** "…this could take another half hour. How did you even manage to convince him to climb up to the Triple Drop? He wouldn't chance going up there even if I asked him."

 **Steffie** (Sassy/Annoyed) **:** "You tell us this now! I could've been talking about the new fad with Katie and Meghan or even getting my hair done for tonight's big party!"

Before Steffie could carry on complaining Ethan intervened, he wanted to avoid an argument sparking out of control and causing tensions between the girls because he would be the one in the middle that had to continuously listen to both parties hurling insults at each other for a week.

 **Ethan** (Calm) **:** "Whoa Steffie chill, thirty more minutes isn't that bad."

 **Steffie** (Sassy/Annoyed) **:** *Frowns and then turns away from Peaches* "Hmph, fine."

 **Ethan** (Calm) **:** "Anyway, back to Louis, yeah he actually asked me if I knew where you were this morning Peach. I told him that you were probably in the hang out area somewhere and long story short I said to him that if we climbed up the Triple Drop that he'd be able to easily spot you… Then I also said that he should ride the Drop and pull a sweet stunt once he found you to make an epic entrance, he wasn't too hyped for that."

 **Peaches:** "Yeah, I noticed." *Rolls her eyes* "You know even though he stood up to that ape pirate he's still quite, timid… Couldn't you have not drawn so much attention to him and used the smallest slide on the Triple Drop instead of the highest peak? You would still have been able to find me and Louis wouldn't be having one of his episodes."

 **Ethan** (Calm) **:** "...Ha, ha, yeah sorry about that. My bad, point taken."

Time past, Peaches, Ethan and Steffie had now been waiting forty-five minutes for Louis to surface or even talk back to them, but he remained silent, entombed in his small dirt prison. The mammoth teens were beginning to run out of ideas to pass the time and things to say to try and cheer Louis up, slowly all the teens were drifting into a light sleep, collapsed on opposite ends of Louis' hide whilst he remained hidden away; Peaches was the only one that was barely conscious as she battled against sleep, she wanted to be there for Louis as soon as he was ready to emerge, but she was losing the fight. Before sleep beat her she heard the sound of heavy footsteps thundering towards her as well as a voice that was yelling out something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was saying in her sleepy state; as the voice got closer and closer, louder and louder she finally recognised who the voice belonged to and what he was shouting.

 **Manny** (Panic/Shouting) **:** "PEACHES! PEACHES! WHERE ARE YOU! PEACHES!"

 **Peaches** (Surprised) **:** "Dad?"

Rising back to her feet Peaches took a look down the cliffs path and didn't see any signs of her dad anywhere, shaking her head to try and get rid of the lingering tired feeling Peaches began to listen more closely, maybe she'd just imagined hearing the footsteps and her dad's voice in her head as she was drifting off. Suddenly from behind her something larger than herself smashed through the forest's foliage, trumpeting it skimmed her as she only just managed to side step out of the way in time avoiding the collision, there's only one animal that was this large that would be chasing after her like this whilst having a meltdown. Manny only just managed to come skidding to a halt before the cliffs ledge, Sid who was trying to cling to Manny's fur wasn't so fortunate as he flew forward over his friends head at the sudden stop and over the cliffs ledge, screaming at the top of his lungs he fell until he managed to cling onto a loose tree root.

 **Sid** (Panic/Shouting) **:** "AAAHHHH!" *Clings to tree root and looks down* "AAAHHH! MANNY!"

 **Manny** (Panic/Shouting) **:** "SID!"

 **Peaches** (Questioning) **:** "Dad? Uncle Sid?"

 **Manny** (Relieved) **:** "Peaches?

Hearing his daughters voice diverted Manny's attention back to his daughter Peaches, he was incredibly happy to see that she was here in front of him and unharmed, but out of the corner of his eye he also noticed the other mammoth teens that he had disturbed which caused a slight frown to cross his face. Although he had allowed Peaches to go out on her own without supervision when they arrived on Hyrax Island he never really trusted those other mammoths.

 **Ethan** (Drowsy) **:** "Whoa, what's going on now?"

 **Steffie** (Drowsy) **:** "Yeah. What gives?"

 **Manny:** *Speaks through gritted teeth* "Hey Ethan, Steffie, wait there a minute I need to have a word with Peaches, but I guess you'll need to hear it to."

Even though Manny attempts to come off as friendly as possible he isn't very successful, despite the aggressive tone used Ethan and Steffie seem oblivious and unfazed by this, Peaches however isn't too thrilled with how her dad's talking to her friends.

 **Peaches** (Frustrated) **:** *Sighs* "Dad knock it off already, what's wrong now?"

 **Manny:** "Oh well, err, Peaches have you seen anything odd recently like err… Shadows in the forest, claw marks on trees or plants that seem to rustle on their own or even growl, right?

 **Peaches** (Curious) **:** "No, why? What's-"

 **Sid** (Alarmed) **:** "I hate to break up the family reunion and everything, but SLOTH DOWN OVER HERE!"

Interrupting the conversation his friends were having Sid reminded everyone of the latest perilous situation he found himself in, as Sid held onto the loose tree root he started to feel it dropping lower and then pieces of the cliff started to break away, smacking him in the face as they fell. Fear gripped Sid again and in his panic he began flailing around and screaming about why he couldn't die yet.

 **Sid:** "AAAHHH! NO, I'M TOO YOUNG AND HANDSOME TO DIE, I HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN DIEGO AND SHIRA'S CUBS YET!"

As he flails more violently the roots grip on the cliff gave way, sending Sid plummeting down to the sharp rocks below, forcefully closing his eyes he screams out once again and waits for the end, but a trunk wrapped around his neck prevents him from getting far. Once Sid realised that he wasn't falling to his death he opened one eye and glanced up, Peaches was hanging over the cliff edge with her tail grapping onto a palm tree that was overhanging the ledge above them, Sid nervously waved at his niece and she returned this gesture by giving him a friendly grin. A few moments later and Manny, Ethan and Steffie had hoisted Peaches and Sid back up the cliff face via the palm tree.

 **Sid** (Relieved) **:** "Phew." *Wipes his face with his paw* "Thanks for that Peaches."

 **Peaches** (Proud) **:** "No problem Uncle Sid."

 **Manny** (Stunned) **:** "Yeah good job honey, but err, could we not do these death defying stunts while daddy's present hmm?

Although he knew Peaches cold handle herself Manny couldn't help but feel like his fur turned completely grey witnessing his daughter risk her life, it was irritating for Peaches having to listen to the same lecture over and over again, but seeing the dread in her father's eyes made her feel slightly guilty for making him worry over her. To comfort him Peaches wrapped her trunk around her father and embraced him in a hug.

 **Peaches** (Apologetic) **:** "Dad, I'm sorry that I scared you like that, but you don't have to worry, I'm alright see. I'm alright."

 **Manny** (Content) **:** *Sighs* "I know honey… I know." *After their heart to heart moment they part*

 **Peaches** (Curious) **:** "So what were you talking about Uncle Sid, did I hear you right? Uncle Diego and Aunt Shira have cubs?

 **Sid** (Excited) **:** "Oh yeah, after their little _'trips'_ away I'm ninety-eight percent certain we'll be seeing cubs in the not too distant future!"

The news brought squeals of delight from Peaches and confused looks from Ethan and Steffie in the background, they weren't sure if Peaches and her family had forgotten about their presence, Manny on the other hand just rolled his eyes at Sid giving out false news on their feline friends.

 **Manny** (Annoyed) **:** "Sid are you really that dense? You already placed those two in a ticked off mood after you pushed them on this and they already told you that they weren't planning on having cubs… In their own kind of way."

He mumbled the last part of the sentence, not wanting to go into detail about the argument that kicked off recently. Sid and Peaches looked really disappointed after hearing this, frowning and pouting, Peaches disappointment was understandable but Sid should have already known that Diego and Shira weren't planning on having cubs. Rolling his eyes at the childish display he continued.

 **Manny** (Serious) **:** "You were there when they told us that Sid! Anyway we're getting of topic, come on over you guys will need to hear this." *Waves Ethan and Steffie to join them and they do* "Now I don't want to make you teens panic, but we have a problem, a dangerous rogue or pack of sabers are on the island and no Sid I'm not talking about Diego and Shira."

The teen mammoths gasp at the shocking news, it had been so peaceful on Hyrax Island so far, but with an unknown amount of new predators presenting a danger to everyone the peace was shattered.

 **Louis** (Panic) **:** "A PACK OF SABERS!" *A small thud is heard as Louis faints in his hidey hole*

Everyone turns to look were Louis' voice came from and all they see is the same rock blocking the small dirt holes entrance, Manny and Sid are the ones now looking confused.

 **Manny** (Confused) **:** "Weiner?" *Peaches punches his shoulder for the remark* "OW!"

* * *

In the hunting grounds Diego walks alone, he continues on his straight path mumbling and grumbling insults about Sid under his breath as he went. Pushing through the tall grass he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, with a new threat present, in this area particularly, he needs to keep up his guard, but his mind was filled with rage after the embarrassment Sid caused him this morning and he was unable to concentrate on anything else. A wet sensation under Diego's paw stopped him in his tracks and broke him out of his anger fuelled thoughts, he'd arrived at a watering hole, as he regained his senses he noticed something, it was oddly quite even for the hunting grounds.

There were no chirps or songs coming from the islands birds, no prey items were in sight and at a watering hole normally the herds of gazelle and toxodon (an extinct rhinoceros/hippopotamus like creature) commonly gathered to enjoy a refreshing drink, although the toxodon were more likely to wallow in the pool rather than drink it. No other creature appeared to be in the area however and for all Diego knew he could be the only living creature for miles, unfazed by the unusual silence Diego lent down and began lapping up the water to quench his first; the only sound audible at this time was the sound of the wind gently rustling the long grass and leaves in the trees against each other. Another thing the wind did was blow a new odour to Diego's nostrils which made him start to salivate and turn his attention to a potential next meal, the odour was that of fresh blood that was starting to rot under the heat of the midday sun yet it had another smell mixed in as well.

Interest now peaked Diego picked himself up and walked around the watering hole as he followed the enticing odour, what he was searching for was close by, he could sense it, pushing past the tall grass on this side of the watering hole revealed his quarry to him. Sitting under a tree and partially covered in dust in an attempt to cover up the bloody smell was the carcass of a toxodon, the carcass had near enough been completely stripped down with only the skeleton remaining with a few slithers of meat left as scraps still attached to the bones; the scene explained why there was a lack of other animals around. Alarmingly the carcass seemed to be quite fresh, probably taken down at around dawn, lowly growling defensively Diego sniffed the ground and air around him and the smell burned through his nose causing another burst of anger to surge through him, the smell was that of a rival male saber; the area Diego was standing in had been used as a latrine to defiantly mark out territory.

A dark grey shadow in the tall grass stalks around Diego, deep sapphire blue orbs fixated on his target determined to accomplish his goal, remaining undetected he crept closer and closer to the tawny male saber in _his_ territory, fully prepared to make the kill and end this hunt swiftly.

 **?** (Thinking) **:** _'It was always going to turn out this way… Your life ends here.'_

* * *

 **Judging on what you guys have said last chapter you're all interested in this new rogue saber and would like to see more of him, so far I've kept him well hidden and scarce throughout the story, but he will play a major role so you can look forward to reading more about him soon.**

 **Also Pikachufan260 you mentioned you'd like to see a love interest for Sid, I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that this is unlikely, then again I'm writing this as I go, so who knows.**

 **Thanks to everyone who decided to gave their time to read + review the story so far, it is greatly appreciated and I love hearing your feedback. Review this scene to give me your thoughts on how this is playing out, with the heart symbol somewhere on the page you can leave a favourite or/and follow if ya really enjoying this so far and other than that I've nothing more to say. Until next time eh, see ya!**


	5. Initial showdown

**Back again with another scene for 'Unravel', sorry for the long wait again mates, but I think you'll find this was chapter worth the wait. So don' let me hold ya back enjoy this scene eh!**

* * *

 **Scene 4- Initial showdown**

Provoked by the strong, heavy, musky scent burning throw his nose caused by the smell of the latrine left by the rival male saber Diego frantically began looking around the area for any signs that suggested that the rogue might still be in the area; all that was visible however was the large sturdy tree in the centre area, the toxodon carcass under the tree, the small pits dug out to mark territory and the long grass surrounding him on all sides. A chilling breeze had started to pick up, blowing through Diego's fur and sending a shudder all the way down the length of his spine which made his skin crawl, with the lively sea of long grass dancing in the wind it seemed to make an impenetrable barrier which had him encircled and trapped.

Rustling noises echoed out and sounded from everywhere as the tall grass on the ground and the leaves on the tree above collided with each other repeatedly, blocking out all other sounds in the immediate area, even for Diego this was beginning to feel quite claustrophobic and as it dawned on him he started to realise that he was in a bad position to be ambushed. Uncertainty was an emotion that didn't creep into Diego's mind often, but right now he was feeling unnerved at his current situation; he was alone, isolated from every other member of the herd and he could sense that he wasn't alone. He could feel another animal was present with him and if his guess was right whatever it was had been stalking him for a while, watching his every movement intently, waiting for the right moment to spring it's trap; gazing out into the sea of grass Diego tried to spot anything lurking around in the shadows.

 **Diego** (Threatening) **:** "I know you're here so I suggest you come out of hiding right now!" *A few moments pass and no one answers back* (Mocking) "Or is the young cub too afraid to step up to the challenge?"

 **?** (Thinking) **:** _'He really thinks I'd fall for a basic taunt like that? Oh don't worry, I'll make sure your end is swift with a single crushing bite to the throat.'_

Without making so much as a single noise that would alert the tawny furred male saber to his location the dark grey rogue cautiously and silently stalked into the ideal striking range and ambush point, behind his target, he knew that if he created any noise his target would easily be able to hone in on him and then he'd become the hunted. They were both similarly built however the rogue could tell that his tawny target was slightly bigger so if it came down to a straight up fight to the death he'd lose, but he could also tell that he was more agile than his target and so far he had the advantage of surprise as well; his target had one more advantage over him, this male had a supposed mate who was sure to come running if she heard her partners rage filled battling roars. The rogue had finally gotten to the striking range needed to launch his ambush and land the killing blow on his target, but he still had to wait for the tawny male saber to turn his back to him, he only had one shot at this to end it quickly and he has going to make sure it's the only one he needs.

 **Diego** (Mocking/Threatening) **:** "Figures you'd be a coward, hiding and stalking, let me guess that's the only thing you're good for? Whatever, if that's all you're going to do I'm leaving, and if I find you following me I'll kill you."

As Diego turned his back to leave he wasn't aware that he had just put himself in the worst position possible and there was no time to correct this mistake, within the time of a second and a half Diego heard a thunderous roar coming from right behind him and almost instantly felt an immense amount of force press down on his back and shoulders. Diego was forced down to the ground, landing on his side, his assailant was no novice at combat as he had planted one of his front paws slightly above Diego's shoulder joint which kept Diego from being able to lift his paws up to attack or defend himself, effectively restraining him and he was now unable to fight back. The rogues other front paw was planted firmly on Diego's skull restricting him from biting or seeing what was about to happen, but Diego was a veteran when it came to combat and he knew when a saber had you pinned it would go for the killing bite to the throat.

Diego only had a few seconds to prevent this fate which meant he needed to act quickly, spinning his hind legs around he kicked harshly at the rogue's soft underbelly and luckily managed to flip the rogue off of him as he was just millimeters away from his throat, reversing the position so now he was on top. This didn't last long however as Diego was unable to pin down the rogue's front paws, the rogue took advantage immediately by bringing a paw up to claw at Diego's face, jumping back Diego was able to avoid this and the two sabers began slowly circling each other; they analysed the opposition, checking out every little feature of the other, looking for any signs of weakness or injury.

 **Diego:** (Thinking) **:** _'So this is who's been invading our territory. Dark grey pelt with a white underbelly which seems to have a few black stripes running down his spine and limbs, he's built light for speed and agility just like Shira but there's no doubt that he's stronger than he looks; he's also missing his left canine, must have lost that in a hunting accident. No signs of injury, this'll be a tough fight!"_

 **?** (Thinking) **:** _'Damn it he managed to escape! This isn't good, I'm not going to get a chance like that again and to make it worse I know he's in perfect health; fighting him now could result in fatal injury, but something tells me he won't let me escape after that stunt. To survive this I'm going to have to outsmart this guy and be quick about it, no doubt his mate isn't too far away from here.'_

After sizing up the competition Diego was the one to launch the first strike, letting out a ferocious roar he charged at his opponent, leaping forward he was met by the rogue who'd stood up on his hind legs to stand against Diego, this reaction forced Diego to catch himself with his own hind legs and now the two were locked up in a test of strength. Surprisingly the rogue was starting to out muscle Diego at the start and managed to push him back, but this didn't last long, Diego dug down inside himself and used more of his strength to push the rogue back to where they started before shoving the rogue over making him land on his back. Unfazed by the ruff landing the dark grey rogue wasted no time rolling over back to his paws and swung a free front paw with unsheathed claws at Diego's left front leg, not expecting the rogue to recover that quickly Diego had no time to react and was caught out, as he let out a pained roar and grunt at the feeling of his legs flesh being torn the rogue jumped back to avoid Diego's reactive strike, keeping his distance.

 **?** (Thinking) **:** _'Taking out his legs will slow him down and take away his strength, I've just got to avoid being hit.'_

 **Diego** (Furious) **:** *Looks down at his bloodied leg* "Alright, now I'm ANGRY!"

Enraged Diego's eyes and face lit up with a look that was determined to kill as he unleashed yet another ferocious roar that pierced right through the dark grey rogue, although he had sustained injury adrenaline kicked in and numbed some of the pain as he began charging for his opponent again. Avoiding a head on fight with an angered male saber who was larger than him the rogue opted to be more tactful, swiftly he jumped back to prevent being struck by his rival and began running towards the toxodon carcass with Diego in pursuit; as he reached the carcass he turned back to Diego, but he was closer than anticipated and Diego was able to pounce on him, pinning him to the gritty ground. In a flurry of rage Diego landed several blows to the rogue's side and left some grizzly marks with his claws, every shot drained more and more energy out of the rogue as he endured through Diego's assault, he was not going to go down this easy; stirring up again as Diego began to tire and slow down the rogue took the first opportunity he got and clamped his jaw down on his left paw.

Razor sharp teeth cleanly cut through the hide, muscle and the protective padding of Diego's left paw, as he roared out in agony Diego could feel more pressure being applied to his paw and then a cracking sound was heard, this audacious rogue had managed to snap Diego's paw. With his left leg now completely immobilised Diego lost his power advantage and the rogue began pushing back and was able to rise to his paws, to free his trapped limb Diego swatted the rogue across the back of his skull using his free right paw with all his remaining strength and sent him staggering backwards. Battling on with a now broken paw Diego tried to stay in the fight and keep on top of the dark grey rogue who appeared to be stunned, but with a sly and calculated look in his eyes the rogue revealed why he had rushed over to this particular area to continue their territorial war; swiping the ground as Diego lumbered towards him the rogue kicked up a load of dust into Diego's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

 **Diego** (Resentful) **:** "ARGH! You sneaky little…" *Tries to rub the dust out of his eyes*

 **?** (Calm) **:** "Ironic, all that power to protect those closest to you… and yet you're unable to do anything to safe yourself."

 **Diego** (Outraged) **:** "WHAT WAS THAT!?" *Struggles to see in the thick dust cloud*

 **?** (Calm) **:** "Time to finish this hunt."

With dust particles stuck in his eyes and a cloud of dust still lingering around Diego could not lock on to where the rogue was, one moment he seemed to be in front of him and the next it sounded like the voice was coming from behind him. Squinting into the dust cloud Diego thought he could see the dark grey rogue's shape dead ahead of him, but suddenly a shooting pain ripped through his right side as he felt the rogue slash deeply into his shoulder joint; another agonized roar escaped Diego and he found himself hobbling, struggling to hold up his own upper body weight. Bloodied and weakened this was now starting to become a one-sided battle against Diego, even though he had given his opponent some deep and nasty looking scars across his flanks it didn't affect the rogue's combat ability in the slightest whilst he had more or less crippled Diego with a few tactically aimed strikes.

Seconds later and Diego found himself forced down to the ground as the rogue powerfully tackled him on his left flank, positioning himself in the same position as he had when he went for the killing blow the first time. Diego's struggling was fruitless this time, it was clear that he didn't have enough strength or energy to reverse the position, exhausted he ceased to struggle when the rogue pressed his paw down upon his head.

 **?:** "An injured predator will either die of starvation or infection naturally, but since you have a mate I cannot leave you alive… I am Edge and this is my territory now!

Forcefully pressing his eyes shut Diego waited to feel the final bite to the throat that was certain to end his life, but it never came, instead another thunderous roar sounded out alongside the two male sabers and this one was more familiar, it was Shira's! The pressure on Diego's skull and shoulder was alleviated all at once when Edge jumped off of him to avoid an infuriated Shira pouncing straight for him, as Edge backed off further back Shira refrained herself from pursuing him and stood protectively over Diego, stealing a sorrowful look at him before glaring daggers at Edge.

 **Shira** (Angry/Defensive) **:** "Stay. Away. From. Him!"

Edge started to pace back and forth in front of this silver furred saberess, sizing her up, this was the male saber's mate that he'd predicted would interfere and if she was just as strong as him then it wouldn't be wise to try and fight with her right now; with her emotions running high she could probably do a lot of damage in her rage full state. She was in perfect physical health and her build seemingly matched his own as well, however if he was able to overpower her or out smart her this was an opportune moment to eliminate both of his rivals right now. Staring right into her aqua eyes Edge began to approach the silver saberess, after analysing her he was confident that he could catch her out with the same trick and then out muscle her; what he was aiming to do was bait her into stepping away from the tawny male and isolate her, if this failed then it would be time to make a quick getaway.

As Edge got closer and closer Shira refused to give way or chase him off, she just stood there protecting her broken boyfriend as the looming threat approached, once he got too close for comfort she looked to her left and quickly nodded. Stopping in his tracks Edge realised that this was some kind of signal, but who could she possibly be signalling to and what for, following her gaze his answer came in the form of a log that was flying in his direction; it flew cleanly over Shira and landed half way between them horizontally creating a small barrier, separating them and bringing up a large dust cloud. Keeping his gaze focused on the direction where the log came from Edge waited patiently until a gust of wind carried the dust cloud away, once it had been lifted he could see the creature responsible for the thrown log, a large defensive female mammoth stood not too far behind the silver saberess, she was the same mammoth that had been talking to these other sabers this morning.

 **Ellie** (Threatening/Defensive) **:** "Don't you dare take another step this way or you'll have to deal with me!"

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** "…"

 **Shira** (Threatening) **:** "LEAVE, before I change my mind and tear you in half!"

Edge wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Why would a mammoth would come to the aid of a saber? Regardless of the reason he could see that with the mammoth backing up his opponent the odds were severely stacked against him, continuing to fight would be suicidal, sending a death glare and vicious snarl Shira's way Edge made his decision, turning tail he ran off through the hunting grounds long grass. Ellie and Shira breathed a sigh of relief, now they knew what/who they were up against, but the damage had already been done, with the enemy gone for now Shira turned her attention to Diego: looking him over the first thing she noticed was the large bloody claw marks on Diego's left shoulder, she began licking it in an attempt to clean it out and prevent infection.

 **Diego** (Hurt) **:** "Argh watch it, that guy managed to snap my paw."

 **Shira** (Worried/Caring) **:** *Rolls eyes and then nuzzles Diego beneath his neck* "Oh Diego, why did you wander over here on your own? We said we'd handle this together!"

 **Diego** (Regretful) **:** *Sighs then starts to purr* "I know... Guess I messed up."

 **Ellie** (Anxious) **:** "I don't mean to ruin this lovey dovey session, but we need to get out of here, now!"

Both sabers nodded in agreement and Shira helped Diego to his paws, refusing to be carried by Ellie Diego leaned on Shira and walked on his three good legs, with Diego being injured it was a struggle, but the three friends slowly made their way back to the herds clearing.

* * *

 **Edge** (Thinking) **:** _'Next time… you won't be so lucky.'_ *Watches them leave*

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed reading and picturing this scene in your heads, I had fun writing it and now you know who this rogue saber is.**

 **What do you guys think of him eh? Let me know this and your other thoughts by leaving a review because it makes me happy saber and will make you feel like a happy saber too!**

 **Thank to everyone who has read, read + reviewed, favourited and followed so far! Now I think I should get some Z's, need to be up early in morning, bye for now guys eh.**


	6. Broken, but safe for now

**Finally managed to complete this chapter of 'Unravel' and not only that but Scrat's back, enjoy this latest scene matey's!**

* * *

 **Scene 5- Broken, but safe for now**

All around him were shadows, shrubs, extremely tall trees, the moist soggy ground and large puddles of filthy swamp water, Scrat's luck really had not improved at all over the years; after being briefly reunited with his treasured yet accursed acorn the dark grey rogue saber, known as Edge, had sent him flying away with one powerful strike of his paw. Separated from his most prized possession yet again as the wind currents teared the acorn from his grasp, as they descended back down to earth they landed in different areas of Hyrax Island's swamp. Tentatively Scrat wandered around the dark and murky area keeping his arms and tail close to his person, looking around the most alarming sights were the monstrous shadows, giant spider webs and several pairs of shining yellow eyes that were fixed upon him, behind all of these lied possible predators that could be looking for an easy meal.

As the last rays of sun light slipped through the swamps dense tree-top canopy darkness began to set in making everything in the swamp a lot creepier than it needed to be, Scrat frantically scurried along in search of the accursed acorn, avoiding the rustling shrubs and changing direction every time a twig snapped in front of him. In the distance a loud defiant roar echoed in the air catching Scat's attention as his ears perked up, swiftly he looked around him but was unable to find the owner of the roar so he ran for cover in a hollowed out log; Scrat didn't need another encounter with a moody saber or other predator, hopefully the creature that was sounding off was miles away him. Once everything fell silent again Scrat was able to breath out a sigh of relief, collapsing against the wooden wall of the log he wiped his arm across his face and relaxed, as he rested a quite creaking noise snapped him to attention before he felt like he was falling backwards; lowering his head he could feel in his gut what was coming next.

 **Scrat:** "Awrh..." *The log begins to roll down the hill with Scrat still inside it* "AAAAAHHHHH!"

As the log went down it picked up speed, knocking down small trees and animals that were unfortunate enough to be caught on its path of destruction, Scrat continued to tumble around inside as he has thrown repeatedly on his face, rear and sides as he grunted and screamed out in pain with each impact. Slamming into a rock formation the log was bashed into a vertical position before it became wedged in-between them, dizzy, nauseous and having no sense of direction right now Scrat unpeeled from the logs wall and fell, rolling out of the log and down the hill he came to a stop at the bottom with his face landing in a puddle of swamp water.

 **Scrat:** *Rolls out of the water, eyes still rolling* "Urgh."

Forcing his aching body back to its feet he groaned, shaking his head and blinking a few times to straighten his vision out, once he could see clearly again his face lit up again as he saw his acorn right in front him, but it soon fell once he noticed the obstacle separating him from the nut. A green swampy moat completely surrounded Scrat's acorn as it balanced on a barely visible rock.

 **Scrat:** "Mewp."

* * *

Elsewhere Ellie, Shira and Diego have been making steady progress back to the herds cave, with a broken paw and bloodied front legs Diego continues to push on whilst leaning on Shira for support: although Ellie had offered multiple times to carry him he refused remarking "Unlike Sid I'm not utterly useless and I still have my dignity.", clearly not happy with his current situation. With the sun hastily descending past the horizon day light was quickly fading along with it and because of Diego's injuries they'd only just managed to get out of the hunting grounds, during the journey back everyone had remained silent, except for Diego who let out an occasional grunt of pain; different questions raced through their minds filling each with a sense of dread. Shira was starting to tire of this and attempted to start up a conversation to lighten the mood since they were now out of the hunting grounds and didn't have to be worried about being ambushed.

 **Shira:** "So, is he an old friend of yours?"

 **Diego** (Sarcastic/Annoyed) **:** "Yeah we go way back, great guy, he was so happy to see me that he broke my paw and tried to kill me. Do you want me to introduce him to you?"

 **Shira** (Defensive) **:** "Hey I was just asking!" *Shakes her head and rolls her eyes* (Curious) "What does he want?"

 **Diego** (Serious) **:** *Sighs* "He said that his name's Edge and he's made his position clear, he's after our territory Shira and is more than willing to kill us to get it."

 **Ellie** (Anxious) **:** "Is he alone or are there more of them out there?"

 **Diego** (Serious) **:** "He's on his own, there are no signs that this is a pack invasion and if he had a pack with him then I'd be dead already, but that's where our luck runs out. From experiencing it first paw Edge has an uncanny ability to remain hidden, I wouldn't be surprized if he's probed deeper into our territory before without us even realising it, on top of that his smallish stature is deceiving of the strength he has."

Suddenly Shira stopped in her tracks which nearly sent Diego toppling over into a heap, struggling to stop himself Ellie caught him with her trunk, looking her in the eye he could see the sympathetic look she gave him.

 **Diego** (Embarrassed) **:** "Err, thanks."

 **Ellie** (Concern) **:** "You're welcome."

Turning their attention to Shira to see why she froze in place they saw a look of shook gripping her face as her mouth hung a gape, Diego could also see a tiny glint of fear hidden in her eyes which made him feel uneasy; it was as if she was staring with glassy eyes into a distant memory that had been long buried and forgotten about deep inside of her. Shira remained locked in place and unresponsive as Diego and Ellie kept calling her name trying to break her out of this trance, but they weren't having any luck, from the hunting grounds a loud defiant roar rang out in the distance causing the fur on Ellie's back to stand up on end and Diego's hackles to rise.

 **Ellie** (Anxious) **:** "Was that-"

 **Diego** (Alarmed) **:** "Yes that was Edge, we've got to hurry up and get moving!"

 **Shira** (Confused) **:** "Huh?" *Shakes her head and blinks twice* "What just happened?"

 **Ellie** (Concern) **:** "We'll tell you on the way, come on let's go."

As Ellie began to walk on Shira didn't look too impressed with her answer, but as Diego started to try walking on a head she had to walk alongside him so he could lean on her for support; as they walked Diego whispered into her ear _'Thanks for saving me back there, I don't know what I'd do without you.'_ , this earned a purr from Shira and she also gave him a loving lick across his cheek as they walked back to the herds cave.

* * *

With the moon steadily rising to take the suns place in the sky Ellie, Shira and Diego stumbled into the clearing in front of the herds cave, on the way there Shira had been told about her trance and the distant roar that had snapped her out of it. When Ellie and Diego questioned her on what she was thinking about she just simply told them that she was worried about how she was going to hunt for both her and Diego, and that this oddly reminded her of how the nightmare life with Captain Gutt began. The illuminous light of one of Sid's camp fires welcomed them back and told them that the others had made it home safely, stepping out from the treeline they could see Manny, Peaches, and Sid sat outside the herd's cave exchanging conversation whilst waiting for the rest of their family to return; although it looked more like Manny was lecturing Peaches and Sid about keeping safe again.

Crash, Eddie and Granny where no were to be seen however and no one had seen them since this morning, Granny's disappearing wasn't to concerning for anyone as any normal animal would steer clear of the cranky elderly sloth, any who didn't would get an earful of nonsense as well as clobbering from her wooden cane for their trouble. With Crash and Eddie missing this late at night Ellie was starting to panic inside about what trouble they've gotten themselves into this time, as Ellie walked ahead of Shira and Diego a vine along the floor rose up in front of their paws tripping them up; Shira was unable to catch herself with Diego leaning on her and they both fell to the ground. Shira managed to soften Diego's fall by placing herself between him and the ground, but unfortunately the impact caused his broken paw to twist painfully and he let out a roar of pain making everyone in the clearing jump and turn their way.

 **Manny** (Alarmed) **:** "Ellie! What was that?"

 **Ellie** (Worried) **:** *Gasps* "Diego!"

 **Peaches** (Worried) **:** "Uncle Diego! Is he alright?"

 **Shira** (Worried) **:** "Diego! Are you alright? I'm so sorry, something tripped me up and-"

 **Diego** (Hurt/Annoyed) **:** *Breaths heavily and growls* "Yeah, I'm fine."

 **Shira** (Caring) **:** *Gently licks under Diego's neck* "Come on, let's get you comfortable near the fire."

It was a struggle but with Shira there to help him up Diego was able to get back onto his paws though he still needed her to support him, carefully the two walked to the rest of their herd members and took a place around the fire; Ellie didn't follow just yet, suspiciously she took a closer look at the vine picking it up with her trunk. Shaking her head Ellie had a sneaking suspicion about what had just happened, giving the vine a sharp tug two possums barely able to contain their laughter hung right in front of her face, it took them a while to notice that their mammoth sister had hold of their vine and didn't look too pleased.

 **Crash** (Amused) **:** "Oh, hey Ellie." *Giggling*

 **Eddie** (Amused) **:** "How was your day?" *Giggling*

 **Ellie** (Whispering/Scalding) **:** "Don't you two 'Hey Ellie' and 'How was your day' me, I was worried sick about you both and when I find you're causing trouble again!"

 **Eddie** (Amused) **:** "What? We didn't do anything, lighten up sis."

 **Crash** (Amused) **:** "Yeah, we only tripped them up a bit was all, and did you hear Diego roar, he frightened everyone!" *Bursts out laughing but then receives a slap from Eddie*

 **Eddie** (Annoyed) **:** "Nice going stupid, way to incriminate us when it was all your idea!" *Crash slaps him back*

 **Crash** (Annoyed) **:** "ME! You set this whole thing up so it's your fault!" *The two now begin to slap fight before Ellie breaks it up*

 **Ellie** (Whispering/Warning) **:** "GUYS!" *The possum twins pause their slap fight and look at Ellie* "Diego's injured his front legs and has a broken left paw from fighting a rogue saber, now was really not a good time to prank him and get on his bad side."

The possums faces were soon filled with fear after learning this, Diego always had an aggressive attitude towards the pranking duo and has gone for them several times after they've pranked him, what would he or Shira do to them if they found out the brothers had pranked them now?

 **Crash + Eddie** (Panic/Begging) **:** "Ellie, you got to hide us!"

 **Ellie:** "I think you two have an apology to make hmmm." *Raises her eyebrows and the possum twins gulp in fear*

 **Sid** (Concern) **:** "Diego, what happened to you buddy?"

Sid ran towards his long-time friend with arms outstretched to give him a hug, but was stopped by Shira who put a paw out to stop him, she slowly shook her head and that just left Sid tilting his head at her with a questioning look, all he was trying to do was help his saber-toothed friend.

 **Shira** (Waning) **:** "First off Sid he has a broken paw after the fight of his life today so he isn't in a good mood, second every time you hug him he goes for you and with the mood he's in now he'll try to kill you."

Diego mouthed a thank you to Shira for getting him out of a forced hug from Sid, she gave him a small smile and gently nuzzled his cheek in return. After this word of warning Sid lowered his arms and wasn't entirely sure of what to do, looking at Diego with a sympathetic look which then turned to curiosity he sat down in front of the two sabers whilst twiddling his thumbs, staring expectantly at them.

 **Diego:** *Sighs* "What now Sid?"

 **Sid** (Excited) **:** "Well come on, I want to hear about how you bravely fought this enemy saber off with only three paws, how you protected Shira-" *Coughs, your mate* "-with every ounce of strength you have!"

 **Manny:** "I think we all want to know what exactly happened over there Sid." *Walks up to them with Peaches by his side* "We all need to know what we're up against here, for everyone's safety."

Diego and Shira turn to Manny and give him a nod in agreement knowing that everyone needs to know the danger that's stalking Hyrax Island, although they hate to admit it they are not able to contain this threat and keep everyone in the herd safe on their own. As Diego was about to start telling everyone about the events that took place in the hunting grounds Ellie stepped forward and interrupted him, holding the possum twins upside down by their tails for him and Shira to see.

 **Ellie** (Stern) **:** "Before you start I think these two have something to say to you two. Right?

 **Crash** (Afraid) **:** "Ha, ha, err hey Diego, Shira. Listen, err w-we may have tripped y-you up back there."

 **Eddie** (Afraid) **:** "W-We didn't know about y-your broken paw, h-honest!"

 **Crash + Eddie** (Afraid) **:** *Clutch on to each other* "WE'RE SORRY!"

 **Diego** (Angry) **:** "WHAT?"

 **Shira** (Angry) **:** "THAT WAS YOU TWO IDIOTS!" *Jumps up and tries to strike them*

 **Crash + Eddie** (Terrified) **:** "AH! ELLIE SAFE US!"

Before Shira manages to hit the possum twins Ellie retracts her trunk and places her adoptive possum brothers on her back, Crash and Eddie tremble in fear as they look down at Shira whilst she gives them a death glare and bears her fangs at them.

 **Ellie** (Calm) **:** "Alright calm down Shira, look they've apologised, can't you settle this with them later?"

 **Shira** (Spiteful) **:** *Lowly growls* "Fine. Don't you two think you're off the hook, I'll deal with you both tomorrow!" *Pads back over to Diego's side*

 **Ellie** (Calm) **:** *Lightly chuckles* "Diego do you want to start now?"

 **Diego:** *Glares at the possums for a moment* "Yeah alright, it all started after our _talk_ this morning…"

* * *

 **Edge** (Resentful) **:** *Lets loose an earth shaking roar* "SHUT IT AND GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Back in the hunting grounds on the southern outskirts Edge was alone, growling, roaring and striking at nothing, nothing that could be seen anyway (Yes he is the owner of the roaring that Scrat and the others heard as the sun set); through Edge's eyes though he could see distressing events from his past, and through his ears all he heard was the insults hurled at him by familiar voices. Animals he never wanted to see again and things he had tried to forget all his life tormented and repeatedly hounded him, his sanity was draining with every passing minute this mental torture lasted, pressing his eyes forcefully shut he tried with all his will to regain his senses. Once he reopened his eyes though he saw the two animals that he despised the most on earth, filled with pure rage at the site of them he let loose the most ferocious roar he could muster and stroke out, claws out stretched; when he connected with them images though he only met wood as he left deep groves in thick tree trunk.

The past was resurfacing to haunt Edge once again…..

* * *

 **This update was really slow so I hope I didn't keep ya'll waiting to long, next chapter I'm thinking about making it mainly about Edge, I think it's about time seeing as he's meant to be one of the main characters.**

 **Thanks for the views and reviews last chapter mates, I can tell people want to learn more about Edge so there's a bit on him at the end of this scene. Let me know what you're thinking now by leaving a review of your thoughts, and I think that's all I've got to say right now so see ya next time eh.**


	7. Mental Cage

**Now the time to learn more about Edge is here, he's a character I've kept hidden, but this chapter will give ya all a glace at his past, a few of the events that have shaped him into the character he is. Special thanks goes out to IceAge Mutant for the favourite and follow since last chapter, thank you Mutant!**

* * *

 **Scene** **6- Mental Cage**

Long ragged breaths were all that Edge was able to let out as he stared at the deep grooves he had carved into the tree's thick trunk from one powerful strike, swiftly he swung back around and frantically began looking all around himself; both of the shrouded figures had faded away and were nowhere to be seen as the world darkened around him. Encircled in the black void that had trapped him within his mental subconscious Edge could feel his heart racing inside of his chest cavity, there was nothing that could be seen or heard in the endless darkness; stumbling backwards in fear he was unable to think clearly about what was happening to him, he took one cautious step forward before sprinting off as fast as his legs would carry him. Edge ran and ran, not bothering to stop and catch his breath, but he got nowhere; it was hard to tell if he had even moved from his original position as he tripped over his own paws due to exhaustion, that's when the voices began to talk to him again.

 **Male Voice** (Mocking) **:** "How typical, little baby brother tucks his tail between his legs, runs away and tries to hide away like the coward he is. Aw what's the matter you pathetic waste of fur, weakling, runt!"

 **Edge** (Hatred) **:** *Lowly growls but refuses to talk back*

 **Male Voice** (Mocking) **:** *Lowly chuckles* "Oh I know how much you hate that, how much that gets under your spine, but what are you going to do about it… Exactly, you're going to do nothing, JUST LIKE THE PATHETIC RUNT YOU ARE!"

 **Edge** (Hatred) **:** *Growls deeper and begins to snarl*

 **Male Voice** (Shouting/Angry) **:** "THE RUNT OF THE LITTER IS WEAK AND THEREFORE HAS NO RIGHT TO STAND UP FOR HIMSELF!"

Suddenly the darkness of the black void turns to a blinding white flash which forces Edge to close his eyes and shield them by tucking his head under his left paw. The light then began to fade and as Edge reopened his eyes he found himself standing in a cave, but he wasn't alone, against the far cave wall stood fifteen young cubs that were around four months of age; Edge could easily distinguish where he was and what was going on, he was looking into an early suppressed memory of his past. The cave he was currently standing in was one of his birth packs dens and the cubs that were against the wall had been torn away from their mothers just moments ago, briefly scanning the cubs along the wall Edge could recognise five of them and pin a name to each; firstly there was Shira a silver saberess who had black stripes across her pelt and aqua coloured eyes, next there was Horn a jet black cub who had orange stripes horizontally across his back, white underbelly and his eyes were also orange, further along was Alice a tawny gold cub who had light brown streaks along her flanks, white underbelly and cold icy blue eyes.

Finally there was Keel a cub who had a jet black pelt but along his back it was a dark shade of grey and his eyes were a deep forest green colour. Edge despised Horn, Alice and Keel and if he was given the chance he wouldn't hesitate to tear their heads off now for the pain they'd caused him all those years ago; looking to the back of the line his gaze fixed upon the cub version of himself, his rage started to die down and it turned into a look of pity.

 **Male Voice** (Hostile) **:** "Ha remind you of someone, that cub should've just died at birth; after all it has no purpose, no real friends and it gets in the way of _everyone_ else… Why should _it_ be allowed to live when it's just a parasite, a leech, another worthless mouth to feed?"

Rage spiked up again within Edge but this time he wasn't given the chance to retaliate even if he wanted to because events moved forward and now there was a large pure silver male saber standing before the cubs, he was one of the packs elders who had no connection with any of the cubs that were present, he was here to explain what was happening to the youngsters. Pack life revolved around a strict hierarchy and tradition, from the moment the cubs opened their eyes at two weeks old they had to learn who was in charge and how to show them the proper respect quickly, those that didn't were harshly punished and if they still didn't learn they were cast aside to die; this cruel but tactical system ensured only the strongest, intelligent and most disciplined survived to become the future of the pack. As the elder silver saber addressed them in a gruff tone every cub remained deathly silent and listened intently to what their superior had to say, none dared to speak out of turn, whine or complain interrupting him and risk receiving the respective punishment.

 **Elder Saber** (Gruff) **:** "Hmph fifteen, an average haul this year. Listen up because I am not going to repeat myself! Our pack is home to only the most elite sabers because we have kept to our traditional ways as you lot are quickly finding out, we have tested every one of you every day from the moment you were first able to see and so far you all have managed to overcome these obstacles because of your dominant instinct to survive; but don't think for one second that you've impressed anyone and deserve praise or treats. These were the basics for you to demonstrate that you deserve to keep your lives and remain a member of THE alpha pack!

Pausing his speech momentarily the elder silver saber paced back and forth, inspecting each cub as he slowly passed by repeatedly; on the third turnabout he came to a standstill in front of Horn, Keel then Edge, gazing down each time at the individual youngsters with the same piercing reddish brown eyes and stern look. A flicker of interest was visible in his eyes momentarily before it was swallowed up by his original cold military expression, satisfied with the obedience and fearless expression all the cubs displayed he took his position in front of them again and sat down to continue the speech.

 **Elder Saber** (Gruff) **:** "Your real test starts today! Tradition of the pack dictates that you are torn away from your mothers once you have reached four months of age, they either let you go willingly or they are forced to comply, allowing weak emotions and sentiments to be shown is unacceptable for any who wish to call themselves elite sabers. Now you lot are all on your own with no one to rely on, from here you will be left to establish your own hierarchy amongst yourselves, you'll need to make friends and allies quick in order to take control and establish yourself as a leader and crush all those who are unworthy beneath your paw! The only things you have to remember are respect your superiors, us adults, obey instructions given to you without fail and the weak have NO rights!

As the elder silver saber finishes his speech Edge's eyes widen and then the world once again fades out in a blanket of darkness as everything around him disappears, the cave, the cubs, even the elder saber slowly vanished. Alone in the black void Edge felt his legs become weak and he collapsed onto his right flank, being here was mentally and physically draining him of his stamina and sanity although the voice that had been mocking him had fallen silent. Struggling to breath minutes felt like hours with time crawling along at a snail's pace whilst Edge was unable to make it back to his feet, this mental torture was picking his mind apart as he waited for something to happen and hoped for this to end, but it didn't; instead another voice began to speak to him, this time it was a females voice.

 **Female Voice** (Scorn) **:** "Hopeless, that's what you are Edge. You only made it through the months and years by clinging onto me, your only friend, and you dragged me down with you because you aren't an elite saber, you're exactly what everyone called you, a weak SPINELESS little runt!

 **Edge** (Weary/Disdain) **:** *Raises head then wills himself to sit up* "Not you…"

 **Female Voice** (Anger/Resent)) **:** "I put my neck out on the line for you every day since I met you, when we were friends, but you were never really a friend of mine were you Edge? Even though I stuck by you and defended you all you saw me as was an object, a pawn, something to use and throw a way once I lost my use to you right?"

 **Edge** (Disdain) **:** *Closes his eyes and shakes his head* "That was never true…"

 **Female Voice** (Anger/Resent) **:** "Hmph, even now you're not going to let the truth out, you're going to keep on feeding yourself these lies! I wasted my life trying to give you a better one, I thought it was cruel seeing the others target and isolate you, but now I see you deserved every bit of it!

 **Edge** (Disdain) **:** "You were the only friend I've ever had… I should've seen it coming… I'll never allow myself to make that mistake again."

As Edge finished his sentence the dark void once again turned into a blinding white light and Edge closed his eyes until it passed by, as the light began to fade Edge reopened his eyes again and saw the same fifteen cubs he had seen in his first flashback. They seemed to be still in the same cave, but this time they were in two separate groups, the larger group had nine members and appeared to be led by Horn, Keel and Shira were also apart of Horn's group, the smaller group had six members and Edge was up front as their leader with Alice standing right beside him; just as they'd been instructed the cubs were fighting amongst themselves to establish themselves as high ranking members of their hierarchy. Edge watched on as Horn and the cub version of himself approached each other and began circling, preparing for the most challenging fight of their young lives, Horn was double Edge's size but with his speed and intellect Edge wasn't someone to count out early.

As Horn was about to make the first move by pounce on Edge he was tackled to the floor by a tawny furred cub, with his sheer strength though he was able to push back and force the interfering cub onto it's back, now that he had the advantage Horn brought his paw up to strike and saw the cub that had tried to stop him was Alice.

 **Horn** (Aggravated) **:** "What did you honestly think was going to happen?"

Before Horn could bring his paw crashing down against the insolent saberess' skull a sudden strong force pushed against his left flank and it managed to send him rolling back to his group, rising back to his feet he saw Edge standing beside Alice sending a challenging snarl his way. An amused smirk grew across Horn's face, with two against him this fight was now somewhat even and sure to provide him with a challenge, Horn's group began to snigger and laugh at the two idiots who thought they stood half a chance against their natural born leader.

 **Cub Edge** (Confident) **:** "Too slow Horn, you think that you can win with just brute strength, well against us you don't stand a chance!"

 **Alice** (Disgusted) **:** "You treat everyone as a slave Horn, why can't we all just get along?"

 **Horn** (Anticipation) **:** "This ought to be fun, bring it you two!"

Events flashed by again as Edge was blinded by a white light, closing his eyes and reopening them when it was possible, the scene that greeted him when he was able to see again sent a chill down his spine; his cub self laid barely conscience against the far cave wall and Alice was pinned down on her side by Horn. Their first real battle together, one that would affect their future… and they had lost.

 **Horn:** "It's too bad you joined the wrong side, hmmm Alice? You may be the best fighter here, second only to me, and then you align yourself with that spineless little runt."

After being force to live through this again Edge felt a pang of sadness in his heart and hung his head low shamefully, he failed to notice the world blacking out around him this time, but he didn't care, a hollow empty feeling filled him and it felt like he was being crushed under a huge wave of depression. All his thought processes ceased, unsure of what to do next Edge began walking forwards with his head still hung low, there had to be a way out of this place and one way or the other he was getting there. For the first time in a long while his motivation to keep going was at an all-time low, the repressed memories and little voices in his head had given him a mental beat down and were close to driving him completely mad, but he wasn't quite there yet; even though he was hated in his birth pack he survived and in time proved himself to be the most elite saber of his generation, this thought drew a small faint smirk briefly across his face and pushed him onwards.

 **Male Voice** (Mocking) **:** "You don't really believe that do you? You, the most elite saber of our generation? Ha, a delusional lie and nothing else!"

 **Female Voice** (Resent) **:** "You don't even belong in the same class as our pack Edge, don't fool yourself and acknowledge the truth for once!"

 **Edge:** *Remains silent, ignoring the voices that mocked and belittled him*

 **Male Voice** (Shouting/Angry) **:** "YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO OUR MOTHER AND FARTHER, THEY WERE THE GREATEST PACK LEADERS AND YOU'RE JUST A STAIN IN THE FACE OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!"

 **Female Voice** (Resent) **:** "Liar, weakling, you were never one of us Edge and will never be considered an elite saber, so you can keep dreaming on."

Edge wasn't about to acknowledge the voices and get held up in this place any longer so he continued to trudge forward, his sanity taking a battering by the minutes as the voices degraded him and his eyes twitched in response. A few moments pass but then a faint light can be seen flickering in the distance, Edge suddenly felt a renewed burst of energy spike up within him and he begins to sprint at his top speed for what he figured must be the exit from this place; the voices continued to hurl and shout insults around his head which seemed to make the exit weaker, but Edge was not about to be trapped inside of this mind prison and remained focused on his goal. As Edge was close to his goal a rock wall shoot out of the ground to block his path, but this was not going to stop him, running at full speed he leapt for the wall and ran up its full length, reaching the top he jumped for the light without hesitation.

The darkness was swept away and Edge found himself back in reality and the voices that had plagued him ceased to exist, the downside to this was he now found that he had thrown himself off of a cliff face and was now plummeting towards the ground…

* * *

 **Normally I reply to those that have reviewed my stories, but I failed to do that last time, so I have to say I'm sorry Acliptika and IceAge Mutant, life's been a bit hectic recently and now that I'm back at college it's going to get a bit crazy; thank you for the reviews though eh, I really appreciate them.**

 **Some questions have been answered on Edge now, but there is still plenty more to tell, I hope this has entertained ya all and I hope you consider leaving a review as this makes me happy and tells me how you're feeling about my story telling so far. That's all I've got for now so thank you for reading + reviewing, favouriting and following and I'll see ya all next scene eh.**


	8. Farther Daughter Drama Renewed

**Assignment work and only having a laptop now, yeah not a good combo for typing up stories and having other shtuff I want to do on top of that, *sigh* anyway managed to finally get this scene here so enjoy everyone. Special thank goes out to Money100 for following as of last scene.**

* * *

 **Scene 7- Farther Daughter Drama Renewed**

 **Diego:** "…and by the time we finally got back you guys were already here."

With these final words spoken Diego brought his recap of past events to a close, through it everyone had paid very close attention, sitting silently and listening intently to every single detail; Shira and Ellie added in their parts to the story were they had to and now they were all aware of the looming threat that stalked the island. The atmosphere surrounding the herd was now tense, everyone was clearly anxious and unsettled at this news, it was written in their eyes and faces and with good reason; they had no idea how far this rogue saber, Edge, was willing to probe into their side of Hyrax Island, on top of this Diego had already been seriously wounded fighting him off and would now be fully reliant on Shira to hunt for the both of them for quite a while, but the hunting grounds is were Edge seems to be residing. As Manny was about to break the silence shuffling and low mumbling noise could be heard, whoever was making those sounds were concealed by the pitch black of night and a bit too close for comfort; Manny, Shira and Diego each got into a defensive in front of their fellow herd members, then a cranky elderly sloth waddled out from some shrubs into the clearing.

 **Granny** (Shouting/cheerful) **:** "PRECIOUS! Goodnight sweetie." *Waves whilst looking behind her*

 **Everybody** (Except for Granny/Shocked) **:** "GRANNY!"

 **Sid** (Relieved) **:** *Starts waddling up to Granny* "Granny where did you wander off to this time? I looked all over for you this morn-" *Whack* "OW!"

 **Granny** (Cranky) **:** "So your dear old Granny's only worth searching for a few hours of the morning! You'd abandon and leave her for dead the second she disappears! Shame on you Sidney!" *Whacks Sid repeatedly over the head with her cane*

 **Sid** (Pained) **:** "Ow! Ow! Ow! Granny stop, that's not what I meant!" *Whack* "Ow!"

The scene in front of them had the more childish members of the herd, Crash, Eddie and Peaches, in stitches whilst they failed to muffle their laughter, when the senile old sloths rage wasn't focused on you she put on quite the show. When the possum twins noticed the intense death glare Shira was giving them however that read _'Another sound out of you two idiots and you're dead!'_ they awkwardly coughed and hid in Ellie's shoulder fur, the silver saberess then brought her attention back to Granny who was still beating Sid and wondered how much longer this would keep up. Manny and Diego glanced at each other, relieved that it was only Granny but unamused as she continued her merciless attack on Sid, Many was quickly starting to lose his patience, prying her off of Sid he picked her up by her cane and held the elderly sloth close to his face.

 **Manny** (Irritated) **:** "Alright that's enough, look we're glad that you're safe Granny, but everyone's had a VERY long day so would you kindly cut it out."

Keeping as calm as he possibly could with Granny right now he spoke through gritted teeth and all he received was a look of spite for his trouble, then Granny slowly rose one paw up with only one claw raised and she prodded Manny's left eye causing him to drop her on top of a barely conscious Sid.

 **Manny** (Pained) **:** "Ow!" *Rubs his sore eye and glares at Granny*

 **Granny** (Grumbling) **:** *Climbs off Sid and waddles towards the camp fire* "The big fat hairy control freak thinks he can control me? I'm a youngish elderly woman that goes where I want when I want. I don't need these young'uns tying me down."

 **Ellie** (Interest) **:** *Lightly chuckles* "And how was your day Granny? Did you have fun?" *Winks at Manny*

 **Granny:** "Aw why yes it was thank you Ellie, shame your moody drag of a mate knows how to spoil it…"

The wink Ellie gave to Manny signalled that she would deal with Granny from here to calm things down to which Manny gave a graduates smile and mouthed _'Thank you'_ towards his much more calm natured mate. With Sid's aggravating grandmother of his back Manny looked around the clearing at his herd members and family, Peaches was helping Sid back to his feet and checking up on him whilst trying to contain her laughter, Crash and Eddie still were cowering up on Ellie's back whilst she kept Granny occupied and Shira had taken Diego to lie down by the camp fire and was now cleaning out his wounds to prevent infection from striking. This caused a smile to grow across his face at how their family had grown over the years and they were still all united, but it was only brief as the realisation sunk in again on how they were now all in danger with no way out or escape this time; faint images of how his first family came to a tragic end because he was unable to protect them from the human hunters flickered in his mind, he was not going to let this happen again, no one in his herd was going to end up dead on his watch.

Worry and anxiety welled within him at the thought of finding one of his friends or family members lying lifeless, blood dripping from their mouth with eyes glazed over, it chilled his body all the way to the bone and sent a huge shiver rattling down his spine. Stealing himself and blocking out this terrifying image Manny looked around at each of his herd members again, as soon as his gaze landed upon his daughter Peaches he made a beeline for her, he had to make sure she knew the danger they all faced and even if she protested her movement would have to be restricted again.

 **Manny** (Slight concern) **:** "Hey, are you doing alright there buddy?"

 **Sid** (Hurt) **:** "Nooo, my whole worlds spinning and I think she broke my toe!"

 **Manny** (Annoyed) **:** "Clearly she hasn't managed to beat any sense into you yet! How can she have broken your toe if she was only hitting your head?" *Shakes his head*

 **Peaches** (Concern) **:** "Relax daddy, it's just Uncle Sid being himself. Huh wait, what's wrong? You look tense and kinda really stressed out."

 **Manny** (Nervous) **:** "W-what? I'm not stressed out, why should I be stressed out? Oh, that's right maybe because there is a killer on our island!"

 **Peaches** (Irritated) **:** "OOOOH dad! I know already, you've already given me my one hour lecture of the day when we were waiting for mom, Uncle Diego and Aunt Shira to get back." *Rolls her eyes* "I know what's going on, I'm not a kid anymore and I thought you got over this after we arrived here! I'll keep close to my friends and won't go too far from home okay?"

 **Manny** (Protective) **:** "NO! It's not okay with me anymore Peaches, look I haven't asked you to stay close to our herd in a while because I know you're responsible and capable of looking after yourself and I'm really proud of you for that, but now it's different. When I _'lectured'_ you earlier I didn't know how dangerous this rogue saber was at the time, but now I've seen what he's capable of, take a good long look at Diego!"

Averting her attention towards Diego Peaches took in all the detail she could, his broken paw had swollen up, a large set of claw marks trailed his left front leg and right shoulder, and although he didn't mention it he looked to be really uncomfortable right now even with the attention he was getting from Shira. A mix of emotions built within Peaches, she felt pity for her Uncle Diego because of the pain he was in and fear crept in at the thought of bumping into the creature capable of inflicting those kinds of injuries, but she also felt like her farther still didn't trust her away from the herd which both hurt and angered her. Frowning Peaches spun back around to her father's face and stared him angrily in the eye, this was about to create another overly dramatic argument.

 **Peaches** (Annoyed) **:** "Do you think I'm stupid? I don't plan on going looking for this guy dad, so chill out and stop going into an instant meltdown!"

 **Manny** (Protective) **:** "That's not the point Peaches, this rogue saber said he wants territory and if he pushes into our side of the island then he could attack anyone at any time, I just want you to be safe so will you please stick with me or your mother for a few days?"

 **Peaches** (Annoyed) **:** "Oh is this your new way of telling me I'm grounded, huh? Let me guess if I go on my own or with friends you'll send your little spies again?" *Points her trunk towards Crash and Eddie*

 **Sid** (Awkward) **:** *Looks back and forth at Manny and Peaches* "Guys getting loud now, drawing everyone's attention."

 **Manny** (Protective) **:** "If you're not going to listen what choice do I have? Whilst I'm still alive I'm going to make sure nothing hurts you, even if you don't know it's for your own good, so for now yes you're grounded young lady!"

 **Peaches** (Annoyed)) **:** "Yeah, whatever dad."

 **Ellie** (Disappointed) **:** "That's enough you two!"

Ellie's raised voice interrupted Manny before he could continue the shouting fest with their daughter, in their minds they hadn't been that loud, but as they turned to face Ellie they notice everyone else in the herd was staring up at them as well. There was an awkward silence between everyone before Peaches frowned at her farther again and stomped away to the opposite end of the campfire, Ellie shook her head disapprovingly at Manny then went to talk to Peaches to find out her side of the story on what that was all about, Manny just watched her retreating form in shook and everyone else didn't question this and got back to what they had been doing. Seeing that it was probably not a good time to try to talk to his family right Manny sat down by the campfire, he thought about what else needed to be done to keep his herd safe whilst Sid attempted to start conversation with him.

It was a long night as Sid still insisted in talking to Manny who remained unresponsive to his dim friend who continued on about how he was still single but irresistible or soothing along those lines, he hadn't stopped for a good half hour, but now it was time to call it a night. Rising to his feet he was about to make the call for everyone to get some shut eye, but then the thought occurred to him that someone needed to stand on guard tonight; the only ones that were going to be able to do this was himself and Shira, with this in mind he approached the two resting sabers to see if Shira was willing to and if so who would take first shift.

 **Shira:** *Blinks one eye open and sees Manny approaching* "Hey Manny, it's getting late, don't you think it's time for everyone to have a rest hmmm?"

 **Manny** (Uncomfortable) **:** "Yeah it's about that time isn't it? Listen I'm sorry about this morning, but… I need to ask you to do me a favour."

 **Shira** (Jokingly) **:** "Huh?" *Raises an eyebrow then lightly chuckles* "Didn't take you for the type to apologise Poofy, don't worry about it, apology accepted. Now what _'favour'_ do you have in mind?"

 **Manny** (Anxious) **:** *Smiles briefly at Shira's attempt at humour* "Well in all honesty I'm not comfortable knowing that Edge could still be nearby, so I was thinking that maybe… we should take turns to stay up on guard. Diego's not in any state to do this and by myself I'll probably collapse half way through the night, so what do you say? Will you help me out here?"

 **Shira** (Unsure) **:** "Err well..."

Pausing for a moment to consider her answer Shira felt a nudge down by her right side, looking down her gaze fell upon Diego and he seemed to have succumbed to sleep already, but he was twitching all over, _'Must be having a nightmare'_ she thought. After his encounter with Edge he was exhausted and it certainly had a deep impact on him both physically and mentally, bending down Shira comforted him by licking his throat and nuzzling her muzzle against his, it did the trick as he almost inaudibly began purring and his body relaxed again. The sleeping Diego then unknowingly began snuggling into her side and began talking in his sleep, the only understandable thing he managed to utter was _'I love you Shira, no one's ever going to harm you as long as I'm still around'_ ; around the herd Diego usually kept this side of himself hidden so Manny was unable to suppress his laughter, but Shira shrugged this off and gazed lovingly at her boyfriend before looking back at Manny.

 **Shira:** "Alright I'll do it, but I'm taking first shift, I'm not ready to settle down yet."

 **Manny:** *Gratefully smiles* "That's fine by me, just nudge me awake when it's my shift, and thank you for doing this."

After their conversation Manny called out for everyone to head back to their cave and get some sleep, everyone headed for their particular sleeping spots and turned in for the night, Shira woke Diego and guided him to their large bedding stone and then took her place at the mouth of the cave to watch for intruders.

* * *

Time passed by slowly for Shira, with everyone sound asleep there was no one to talk to and nothing shady had happened outside of the cave, it was good to know that nothing was hiding in the shadows threatening her family, but at the same time this meant the night was quite uneventful and dull. Sighing from her boredom Shira kept scanning the darkened outside world, looking left then down the centre then finally to the right; it wasn't too chilly that night, but it was colder than she'd anticipated, maybe that was because she was so use to having Diego by her side these days to snuggle into, a sharp chill made its way down her spine causing her to shudder. Only an hour had passed by so it wasn't Manny's turn to take her place for quite a while yet, looking up into the starry night sky she let her mind think back to her cubhood days which is not something she would normally do, but a question she couldn't place an answer to kept echoing and repeating itself in her head.

 **Shira** (Curious/Sad) **:** "Edge… there's only one guy with that name… What happened to you?"

 **Diego:** "So you do know that guy huh?"

* * *

 **Unfortunately as you can probably tell updating from here on out is going to get a bit slower, sorry about this but there is nothing I can do about this for now. Anyway let's not dwell on this, thank you everyone for taking the time out of our day to read, read + review, follow and favourite, as a writer it means a lot to me and I'm grateful.**


	9. Turn Back

**Finally another update has managed to find its way to the story, near the end I have included a short song called "Turn Back" from the game "The beginners guide", beautiful little track and I highly recommend listening to it when you make it to my notice. Now enjoy everyone!**

* * *

 **Scene 8- Turn Back**

 **Diego** (Disgust) **:** "So you do know that guy huh?

 **Shira** (Sad/Guilty) **:** *Sighs* "Yeah, I knew him, but that was a long time ago."

Sitting up Shira rose to her paws, but felt unable to turn and look at Diego face to face, she could feel his eyes burning into the back of her skull which was an uncomfortable experience; he clearly wasn't happy and was waiting for some kind of explanation, but none came leaving the two sabers standing in awkward silence. Shira still refused to turn and face Diego which began to both irritate and concern him, she openly admits to knowing this intruding saber, Edge, but wouldn't tell him why or even look him in the eye and on top of that her tone of voice sounded quite sad, maybe even a little guilty. She just stood there motionlessly frozen in place whilst gazing absently up into the night sky, it shouldn't be like this between them, they'd been together for months now and Shira still seemed to feel like she had to hide things from him, limping towards her Diego had to change this for both of their sakes.

 **Shira** (Light hearted) **:** "I thought you were asleep…"

 **Diego** (Caring) **:** "Couldn't get comfy with my bust paw, besides you weren't beside me kitty." *Stands beside Shira*

 **Shira** (Distant) **:** "Well, someone had to keep watch tonight didn't they…?"

 **Diego** (Sarcasm) **:** "Oh that's what you're doing over here, I just thought you were trying to avoid me." *Lightly chuckles*

 **Shira** (Distant) **:** "Hmmm…"

 **Diego** (Serious/Concern) **:** *Sighs* "Look... Shira I'm just going to cut right to the chase alright? We've been together for months now so I need to know… Do you trust me?"

 **Shira** (Shocked) **:** "What?" *Takes a step back from Diego*

In all honesty Shira hadn't been paying full attention to what Diego had been saying, she kind of spaced out for a minute as her mind focused on remembering her cubhood years, but when he asked her if she trusted him or not she was abruptly slammed back into reality. This question managed to catch Shira completely off guard, her jaw physically dropped down and hung agape as she never expected Diego to confront her with a question like this; the frowning expression his face wore calm her nerves either, but there was concern and worry gleaming in his eyes as well.

 **Shira** (Hurt) **:** *Looks Diego straight in the eyes* "What do you mean by that?"

 **Diego** (Serious/Concern) **:** "You know exactly what I mean. Do you trust me Shira?"

 **Shira** (Hurt) **:** "Of course I trust you Diego, I trust you with my life, you showed me what it's like to have a real family that looks out and cares for each over, I love you! I can't believe you even need to ask me that." *Dejectedly lowers her head*

 **Diego** (Serious/Concern) **:** "Then instead of hiding the truth from me just tell me… How do you know Edge?"

Again Shira froze in place and wouldn't look Diego in the eye, her paws shuffled about nervously as she cast her gaze back into the starry night sky attempting to avoid this topic altogether, she then noticed how storm clouds where starting to gather in the north hunting ground region and it was coming towards the herds cave. A paw then gently cupped around her chin and brought her gaze back down to lock eyes with Diego, if there was any anger burning deep down inside of him right now he was hiding it very well, the look he was giving her this time however was enough to melt her heart. Shira had managed to breakdown the proud male mentally to the point he was quite literally pleading for an answer from her, seeing no hatred or anger in Diego just the pure concern and worry for her welfare tore down her growing worries and persuaded her to let him in.

 **Shira** (Hesitant) **:** "E-Edge and I g-grow up in the same pack."

 **Diego** (Relieved) **:** *Lowers paw down onto Shira's and smiles* "That's all? That's what's got you spacing out every five minutes?"

 **Shira** (Anxious) **:** *Sighs* "N-No… There's a bit more to it than that, but it's just… it's just…"

Sliding her paw out from under Diego's Shira walks past him and sits back in the original position she'd been in to keep watch. Diego followed after her, sitting beside her and nuzzling her muzzle to try and relax her nerves, she did fell a lot more comfortable this time snuggled closely up to Diego as he placed a fore limb over her; as she remained silent Diego began grooming her and playfully nipping at her ear to coax her to say what was actually on her mind.

 **Shira** (Unsure) **:** *Sighs* "I really don't like thinking back on my past, let alone talk about it…"

 **Diego** (Caring) **:** "I'm not going to force you into doing something you don't want to do Shira, none of us would… but if you need to get something off your chest it's best to talk to someone you know, and since we're together… well, it's my duty to support you, to listen to you when you need me…"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "…..He was so different back then."

 **Diego** (Absorbed) **:** "Edge?"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "Yeah….. He didn't have much, a-and being the runt of the pack leader's litter did place a big target on his back, but…. Those two kept him together, and he'd defend them to the end."

 **Diego** (Absorbed) **:** "…Who were they?"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "…..I guess the only way to make any sense out of this is to start the story at the beginning."

* * *

 **Shira's Past**

Back in my birth pack it was part of some age old tradition for cubs to be dragged away from our mothers at barely four months old so we could be moulded into what the elders called 'the generations elites', fearless, cold hearted, tactical killers who were impervious to pain and regretted nothing. After we'd all been rounded up we were led to a cave and ordered to line up against the wall in a single file line to await a visit from one of our packs elders, when he arrived he told us the next part of the tradition, we were going to be left to our own devices to argue and fight to establish our own hierarchy. There wasn't many rules set in place, the few that we were told we had to live by was to respect our superiors and obey any command given by them, including the adults, and the weak have no rights; it was a pretty basic structure really, a system set in place to eliminate those who didn't fit into the pack and those deemed unworthy.

There was fifteen of us that year, it was the first time we'd all been introduced to each other and immediately everyone was at each other's throats to prove their dominance by tactics or brute strength; before it all started though I remember meeting them, the rumoured pack leader's son, Horn, Keel and Edge. They weren't what you'd call close brothers, Horn and Edge spat insults at each other like crazy whilst Keel seemed to side with his larger and much stronger brother Horn in the end; when the dust finally settled we were divided into two groups, one led by Horn and the other by Edge, I'd been the last to be beat by Horn and fell in line behind him. It all came down to one fight between Edge and Horn, being smaller put Edge at a strength disadvantage, but he was much faster and his future friend and stabiliser Alice was there to help him out; they put up a heck of a fight, but in the end were no match for Horn's sheer brute strength, that day… In a way it set us on our own paths, for the losers of Edge's splinter group it was the start of a living hell.

They were now treated as our packs outcasts, insignificant lowlifes that should've been grateful they were even allowed to still breathe, when it was time to eat they had to wait until last then divide the scraps and at night they were pushed close to the mouth of the cave by Horn because he said the weak don't deserve to sleep with the elite. To live with Horn as your leader meant you had to be seen as strong in his eyes, weaklings were easy targets for a daily mocking if they were lucky and a beating by him and everyone else if they weren't; Horn was a very arrogant saber and always looked for a reason to start a fight with someone, if Keel wasn't around to calm him down and you caught his attention you'd soon been wishing you hadn't. That just became part of our daily routine in the end, I was Horn's regular target during the first weeks and he never held anything back, each time I lost the fight bruised and bloodied then he'd say "That's exactly what rebels under my rule get.", not that it mattered to him, he just enjoyed savouring everyone else's pain and misery.

The adults and elders never stepped in to stop this, why would they? This was normal to them, it was how this pack was built, as long as Horn kept control and didn't send worthy fighters to their deaths it was just viewed as tough love. As the years passed by everyone eventually acknowledge Horn as our pack leader and obeyed all of his orders without question, accept for those last two outcasts, Edge and Alice; Horn was never going to give his brother Edge a chance because he was the _'weakling'_ runt of the brothers, but he would always try and convince Alice to abandon the runt by belittling him and complementing her as the second strongest fighter of the generation. Even with the daily beatings by Horn and his enforcing gang they remained inseparable, they kept separate from the rest of us for most of the day and would spend the late ours out at night, I kept my eye on them from a distance and I couldn't figure out why they were so happy most of the time.

I was curious and when I was a year old decided to follow them out at night to find out what they were doing and get the chance to talk to them without Horn or anyone else breathing down my neck; what I saw at first didn't surprise me, they just sat there talking to each other, but then Keel walked out of the tall grass and….. Playfully greeted them.

 **Play music now**

 _Turn back, turn back from this cave_

They laughed and played together, I was so confused that I stood up from my hiding place and called out to Keel, they looked even more confused to see me there.

 _You said let me prove that I'm brave, let me keep going_

Then they became alarmed and thought that I was a spy sent by Horn, it took a while to convince them, but in the end I managed to get through to them and we became fast friends.

 _But the cave goes for miles, and miles and miles_

During the day me and Keel would keep up our act and sneak out at night to meet them, then we'd all chat, play and practice our fighting and hunting abilities.

 _And you are so tired, but I know that you're strong_

They told me that they had been doing this from the beginning, that's why I never saw Keel in Horn's enforcement gang, Keel would say to him that he was going to agility practice solo then warn Edge and Alice to get out of there fast.

 _So turn back….. Turn back_

I wish I could have been there with them for a bit longer, so I knew what went wrong between them…..

* * *

 **Diego** (Absorbed/Worried) **:** "…Why? What happened to you?"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "…I was nearly two years old and then, well… One day during a fighting contest I was accidentally sent sliding down an ice tunnel and ended up floating out to sea on a small ice float. That's when I was _'rescued'_ by Gutt and the floating petting zoo."

 **Diego** (Curious) **:** "Oh… So the two that you mentioned who kept Edge together, that was Alice and Keel?"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "Yeah, Edge wasn't the most stable guy when I was properly introduced to him, but sadly with everything Horn and everyone else put him through it was bound to affect him one way or the other."

Suddenly they could feel a rumbling feel from the ground through their paws then a blue flash sparked out from the dark black clouds over the hunting grounds, the crashing sound of lightning ripped through the air, it didn't wake anyone else up but it caused the sharp eared sabers to flinch at the incredibly loud noise. The lightning storm was mesmerising to look upon, soon after the rain was triggered and made its decent to the dry earth below, it headed straight towards the herds cave with pace and soon enough it was gently splashing droplets at the saber's paws. It was quite late at this point and Shira was unable to hold back the yawns her body forced out of her mouth, Diego looked at her and rose an eyebrow before smiling and standing up.

 **Diego** (Amused) **:** "C'mon kitty, it's time for you to get some rest now, ya need it."

 **Shira** (Exhausted) **:** "N-No-" *Loudly yawns* "You go ahead, I'm fine."

 **Diego** (Sarcastic) **:** "I can see that." *Nudges Shira's side and nearly causes her to roll over* "Wake Manny, it's his turn to take watch now anyway, besides you're gonna need your strength for the hunt tomorrow. I'm won't be able to help you out ya know."

Realising that Diego has a point Shira sits up and swats him lightly on the nose before he can nudge her again, tomorrow was going to be a challenge, it'd be the first time she's hunted alone and to add to the challenge she has no idea where to start without the hunting grounds.

 **Shira** (Exhausted/Defeated) **:** "Alright, you win already. You go first, I'll be there in a sec."

Before Diego left he gave her a loving lick on the side of her muzzle and then limped back to their sleeping rock, Shira took one last look at the cloudy sky and then went to wake Manny, thoughts of her past continued to play clearly in her mind.

* * *

 **Good to finally get this up for you guys, this offered an even greater look at the history between Shira, Edge, Keel, Alice and Horn, lots of fun to write and hopefully you guys like the end result. If you want to tell me what you're thinking on the story so far please leave me a review and thanks for all the views, reviews, favourites and follows you've given 'Unravel' so far. Til neat time eh, bye for now.**


	10. Early Morning Ruckus

**Back again since time has been so gracious enough to give me some free time to finish this next scene, Scrat's back again and yeah, enjoy this latest scene**

* * *

 **Scene 9- Early Morning Ruckus**

Blue lightning bolts struck down from the sky and barely stopped before they collided with the ground, the brief flashes they gave off lit up the surrounding area of the swamp displaying a very intense scene. Under a large plants leave stood Scrat, dipping two fingers into the a swampish puddle in front of him he scooped up the damp mud from the bottom and wiped two lines on both sides of his face to create a war paint effect, from the cover of plant life a few birds and hyrax that were taking cover from the storm watched on. Glaring intently at his objective Scrat slowly began marching forward with a piece of bark in one hand and a stick with a square piece of bark attached to it in the other, the rain hammered down soaking him to the bone, but he remained unfazed even as the wind picked up and tried to push him back; digging his clawed feet into the ground he got closer to his acorn with every step he took, now he stood at the fringe of the swampy moats shallows.

Rubbing the water from his eyes with his tail Scrat squinted his eyes down to slits and locked back on to his acorns location, miraculously it still remained balanced upon the rock that was now submerged, without giving it second thought Scrat throw the bark board into the moat and jumped on. Gripping the stick like oar in both hands he then began paddling with all his tiny might against the wind, it didn't let up but neither did Scrat, paddling so fast sent him into a spinning motion and unfortunately he was unable to correct it. Scrat began to scream at the top of his lungs as his little vessel continued to spin and bounce uncontrollably between land and the submerged rock like a pin ball, as the speed picked up he became nauseous and was thrown of the board and skimmed across the water's surface before coming to a sudden stop as his head collided with a solid object.

 **Scrat** (Pained) **:** *Eyes bulge out of their sockets before popping back in place* "Ow."

Lifting his head to see what he landed on Scrat was a bit surprised to find only water beneath him, he was laying on water! Cautiously Scrat stood back up and tapped the water with his left foot, it didn't sink so he took a step forward and then another and then his acorn was at his feet.

 **Scrat** (Happy) **:** "Dawgh!"

Clutching his acorn close to his heart Scrat closed his eyes and let out a little humming sound, a small rumbling feeling caught Scrat's attention and his eyes went wide as he looked around for any signs of danger. Nothing, but out of nowhere the water beneath him rose up to a vertical slant and revealed the creature he'd landed and been standing on, large white teeth shone in the light as another bolt of lightning danced across the sky revealing the beast, a well camouflaged alligator. Once again letting out a terrified scream as the alligator slammed it's jaw shut and flung its head back sending Scrat soaring through the air, that's when he was suddenly snatched up by the talons of a female vulture as the little hyrax all clapped at the show they'd been highly amused by.

* * *

Back with the herd everyone was now asleep as the storm raged on outside, Manny had collapsed at the mouth of the cave after the last few hours of his look out shift; he decided he would rather sleep there than with his family because he still felt weary that an intruder was stalking them and now if anything attacked he'd be the first to be targeted which would allow him to protect and warn the herd. It was now the early hours of morning, not that anyone was able to tell as black storm clouds blocked out the sky and sun's rays making it appear as though it was still night; with the thunder and lightning's intensity increasing steadily by the minute it was surprising that no one in the herd had been awakened yet, but it would only take one annoying sloth or two possums to change that in mere moments. For now all was tranquil in the herd's cave, the mammoth family hung by their tails on the left side of the caves tree roots, the sabers slept on their rock on the right side of the cave and both sloths slept on their own individual rocks at the back of the cave flailing around and muttering nonsense to themselves; this just left the possum twins, they were hanging next to the mammoth family.

 **Crash** (Asleep) **:** "Hey dung for brains, that's my stash of peanuts!" *Kicks Eddie*

 **Eddie** (Asleep) **: "** Ow! No they're mine dung beetle eater!" *Kicks Crash*

 **Crash** (Asleep) **:** "Ow! Oh yeah? Thief!"

Even in their sleep they still argued, back and forth they went, over and over again as if they were stuck on an endless loop, considering their small attention spans it was actually quite amazing that they were able to sleep, hang upside down and argue at the same time. Knowing the possum twins though it was only a matter of time before one of them did something stupid, as they started a slap fight Crash unwrapped his tail from the root and fell, only to hook it around Eddie's neck and began chocking him. Feeling the extra weight and pressure being applied to his throat Eddie's eyes shot wide open, in a panic his tail uncoiled from the root as well and they plummeted down to the cold solid cave floor; Eddie was unable to pull Crash's tail off from around his neck and as his face started turning blue he elbow dropped onto Crash, sandwiching himself between himself and the cave floor.

 **Crash** (Angry) **:** *Tail goes limp and he wheezes* "Dude, what the heck bro!"

 **Eddie** (Annoyed) **:** *Bounces of Crash to his feet* "That was your fault idiot for chocking me!"

As Crash was about to shoot something back a flash lit up the cave before the monstrous sound of thunder rang in their ear drums, causing the two to shrill and dive for cover, they scrambled to the nearest object closest to them. Immediately forgetting what they were arguing about in the first place, both possums held each other as they shook uncontrollably, utterly terrified of whatever was making THAT noise.

 **Eddie** (Scared) **:** "W-What d-do you think t-that was bro?"

 **Crash** (Scared) **:** "D-Do y-you think it could be R-Rudy?"

 **Eddie** (Scared) **:** "No way, he's in dino world battling Buck, right?"

 **Crash** (Shocked) **:** *Peaks out from their cover* "Hey look, Manny's sleeping at the caves front!"

 **Eddie** (Questioning) **:** *Looks at the caves entrance* "Huh? How is he able to sleep when something's out there? Should we wake him?"

 **Crash:** "Let's prank him, ya think the stinkin moss on this rock will wake him up if we shove some up his trunk?"

The possum twins turn to each other and devilish grins instantly formed on their faces, obviously thinking the same thing, they then climbed onto what they assumed was a rock and began pulling at the moss attempting to rip it from its surface, surprisingly though it wouldn't budge. It stuck better than any other moss they'd come across, normally this was a quick and simple easy job, but this time it was a struggle; never the less they kept on pulling and pulling until Eddie fell backwards off the rock with a lump of moss in his hands excited Crash scampered over down to his brother who now lay sprawled out on the floor.

 **Crash** (Excited) **:** "You got it?"

 **Eddie** (Disgust/Excited) **:** "Urgh yeah." *Takes a smell at the moss which causes him to gag repulsively* "Aw dude this stuff stinks like Granny. It's perfect!"

 **Crash** (Excited) **:** "Let me smell." *After taking a whiff the stench causes his eyes to water* "Awesome, c'mo-"

 **Granny** (Cranky) **:** "Don't you rats get fresh with me!"

 **Eddie** (Afraid) **:** "Uh Oh." *Whack* "OW!"

Now the possums had something even more dangerous to worry about than a little outside noise and that is the grumpiest elderly sloth you could ever meet with her wooden cane, what they'd thought was a moss covered rock was actually Granny! She managed to get three whacks of her cane off on the possum twins before they were able to run just out of her lethal canes reach, she waddled after them and demanded they stand still as they desperately ran, screaming out for help they ran up to Sid and climbed on top of him. Yelling into Sid's ear and snapping his eyelids open they begged him to wake up, but instead Sid rolled over causing the possums to fall backwards and land on their backs facing Granny; using each other's tails as a helmet they braced for impact, but they didn't feel anything, Sid seemed to though.

 **Sid** (Pained) **:** "OW!" *Immediately sits up* "Granny? What are you doing up at this time? Wait… what time is it?" *Whack* "OW!"

 **Granny** (Cranky) **:** "Out of the way Sidney I'm dealing with this rat infestation, now where did I put my rat catching chompers?"

Crash and Eddie laughed out loud as Granny repeatedly clocked Sid, they just couldn't help themselves, now with Granny temporarily distracted and with a new prank in mind as Granny mentioned her chompers the possum twins sneaked away with them. They weren't difficult to find as Granny normally left them behind her rock, she just tends to forget that every time she wanted them, carefully they made their way over to Diego and Shira, attempting to avoid disturbing the slumbering felines or being seen by Granny. Once they reached the two fast asleep sabers they stacked on top of each other and held their breath as Eddie gently slid them on top of Diego's neck, letting a small laugh escape them and then freezing in place as they saw Diego's ear twitch; when they were certain Diego was still asleep and confident enough Eddie jumped on top of him and hauled Crash up with his tail, next they whistled at Granny to get her attention back on them.

 **Crash** (Mocking) **:** "Over here old an' batty."

 **Eddie** (Mocking) **:** "Look what we found." *Lays on top of chompers*

 **Granny** (Cranky) **:** "Those hairy little thieves stole ma teeth! Be a good grandson and teach them hoodlums a lesson Sidney, defend your poor old granny." *Point's her stick at Crash and Eddie*"

 **Sid:** *Sighs* "Alright fine. Come on guys, funs over, break it up and hand over the chompers."

 **Crash:** "Nope."

 **Sid** (Hopeful) **:** "What if I said… Please?" *Walks towards the possum twins*

 **Eddie** (Challenging) **:** "Don't take another step Sid."

Eddie then slid off of the chompers and lifted up their top half threatening to bring them crashing down upon Diego's neck, Sid gulped cautiously stepping back shaking his hands and head whilst mouthing no at the evil pranksters, Crash and Eddie's grins widened as their little scheme was set in motion. Sid was trying his best to keep the peace as he was well aware of the consequence for disturbing Diego's sleep, he learnt that the hard way when they first formed the herd and never wanted to find out how Shira would react, at the same time though Granny was becoming impatient as she watched Sid back away. Turning around to explain to Granny that she didn't need her chompers right now Sid opened his eyes and found that Granny had disappeared on him again, frantically he looked left then right.

Gasping in horror and realisation he turned around and saw Granny above Diego with her cane raised high, Crash and Eddie were pulling faces and then jumped back as the cane was brought down with force. Sid squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his clawed paws as an agitated roar ripped through the cave followed by several thuds, at everyone else's expense the possums and Granny had succeeded in creating another early morning ruckus.

 **Diego** (Angry) **:** "GRAAANNNYYY! THAT'S IT, ARGH!" *Raises fist then collapses under his weight*

 **Shira** (Worried) **:** "DIEGO!"

 **Manny** (Shocked) **:** "Wah, where-" *Looks back towards the herd* "Diego?"

 **Ellie** (Sleepily/Concerned) **:** "What's going o- Diego?"

 **Peaches** (Worried) **:** "UNCLE DIEGO!"

Seeing Diego collapse like that gave everyone a fright and they all hurried over to make sure their friend was alright, with Shira at his side already she rolled him over to get the pressure of his broken paw whilst she anxiously checked him over for any other signs of injury, but nothing else was damaged except for his mood. In the pain he was in Diego squeezed his eyes shut, lowly growled and took deep breaths letting some of his rage vent out, the possums saw this as a sign that they needed to make their getaway and snook away on their tip toes; Ellie reached out her trunk to try and examine Diego's paw, but Shira stopped her with a paw and shook her head.

 **Diego** (Seething) **:** "Sid… Get your granny out of here, before I reconsider my stance on _not_ eating herd members."

 **Sid** (Alarmed) **:** "O-Okay Granny nap time, let's get you back to your rock." *Takes Granny by the arm and drags her away from Diego*

 **Granny** (Cranky) **:** "Let go of me, I can take her! Huh, you need to learn to respect your elders Lady!

With one less problem in Granny out the way Ellie turned her attention to the root she'd placed her brothers on last night and as she feared they weren't there, she frantically looked around for them but Shira had the same train of thought and caught them attempting to tip toe away. Jumping down from her sleeping rock Shira landed one paw on the possum's tails and held them in place, at first the twins attempted to play dead but Shira wasn't buying it, deeply growling and lowering her bared fangs caused the possums to miraculously jump back to their paws and desperately attempt to scurry away from the enraged female saber.

 **Shira** (Sweet/Dark) **:** "Good morning to you both too, remember after your stupid stunt yesterday I said that I'd deal with you two today? Well, after this latest idiotic prank you've probably made Diego's injury worse, and I KNOW it was you two! I think it's time for a little payback, don't you?"

 **Manny** (Relieved) **:** *Wipes forehead with his trunk* "Phew, you really had me going for a second there buddy, I thought that we were under attack."

 **Diego** (Moody/Sarcastic) **:** "Oh I'm so sorry to disappoint you."

Manny just stood and frowned at his friends sarcastic response, but given his condition he'd let it go this time, after all if he was in the same position he'd be in a foul mood as well.

 **Peaches** (Worried) **:** "Are you gonna be okay? Do you need anything for the pain, or do you wanna talk-"

 **Diego** (Snappy/Frustrated) **:** "I'M FINE! I'm fine. I just… need to some get some rest." *Lays back in his original position and closes his eyes*

With that said and the mood he was currently in everyone decided it was best to leave him alone to cool down for now, trying to talk to him right now would just result in him erupting and create a lot of strenuous tension between them. Behind her and Diego's sleeping rock Shira was adding some finishing touches to Granny's chompers, Crash and Eddie were now going to be a feature of them seeing as they probably brought them over here; to get them to cooperate Shira lightly knocked them unconscious before tying them to the inside of the chompers with their own tails, to finish she used two pieces of vine lying around to gag them. Glancing around after her brothers Ellie caught sight of Shira, she couldn't see what Shira was up to because she was facing the other way, maybe she knew something about her brothers disappearances.

 **Ellie** (Questioning) **:** "Hey Shira, what have you got there?"

Hearing Ellie's voice behind her Shira turned to face her whilst carefully angling the chompers to keep her from seeing the annoying possums, if she caught sight of them no doubt she'd defend them, saying that this is a bit much and weasel them out of this. They weren't going to get out of it this time.

 **Shira** (Ends with sarcasm) **:** "Hey Ellie, I just found Granny's chompers, she must have left them back here last night… Unless it was your oh so funny brothers again."

 **Ellie** (Optimistic) **:** "Crash and Eddie? I think those boys learnt their lesson last night."

 **Shira** (Starts with sarcasm) **:** "Those two can learn? That's news to me." *Walks past Ellie* "Now if you'll excuse me I'd rather not carry these disgusting chompers around any longer than I have too."

* * *

After returning Granny's chompers and with Diego sleeping over his injury Shira wanted to head out to get an early start on hunting, but with the storm raging on she was grounded here with everyone else until it lightened up and passed. To pass the time they just had some general morning conversations, the regular in every family really; how did you sleep, what were the plans for today, where had Crash and Eddie got off to this time. Soon enough though the thunder and lightning ceased and the rain lightened up enough for Shira to finally get out and attempt a lone hunt, if she stuck to the outskirts of the hunting grounds it should be safe, there wasn't many other places with substantial prey items on the island that she knew of so she had to take a chance with this plan.

The dampened ground was covered in puddles and even if she avoided stepping in them the mud squelched beneath her paws each time she took a step forward, these weren't the best conditions for sneaking up on prey, something then caught her eye in the distance. As she got closer she could see it was a crowd of the little hyrax, but they were tying something down with vines whilst making battle cries, as she got closer her eyes began to widen as she identified who the tied creature was…

* * *

 **A whole month past by this time, TIME BE MORE KINDS TOO ME. Thank you everyone for being this patient with me and for all the reviews you've submitted + favourites and follows you've given thus far, to let me know what ya thought of this chapter or anything that's on your mind about 'Unravel' really review and tells me. Til next time bye for now eh... (Notice how I didn't put 'neat' this time, I did)**


	11. Past Connections (Part 1)

**It's nearly Christmas mates, so far over in my part of the UK this months been quite disappointing, there's not beer a single bit of ice to go skating on. *Sad face* Anyway hopefully you've all been having a good time and here's an early Christmas present from me, the next chapter in 'Unravel', enjoy!"**

* * *

 **Scene 10- Past Connections (Part 1)**

There beneath the blue war painted faces of the tiny pint sized hyrax lay Edge, his fur was drenched and covered in thick mud patches as if he had rolled around in it and then decided to sleep out here all night; a few mild scratches under his pelt left faint blood stains, but the most worrying sign regarding Edge's survival was the blood trail slowly trickling out of his ear. The hyrax were quite pleased with their work as they took turns standing on Edge's flank in a heroic position with a sharpened twig in hand, all of his legs had been tied together, his jaw was tied shut and they'd fastened him to the floor for good measure. As Shira reached them she was unsure of what she should do, so for a while she did nothing except for stand there with her eyes still widened in shock and uncertainty; a part of her said that that this was her cubhood friend that needed help right now whilst the other half argued that he was no longer the same guy and he'd turn on her the moment he came to.

 **Shira** (Thinking) **:** _'After what he's done to Diego I shouldn't even be considering helping him out, but... Back then he was a good friend, and maybe I can get through to him again.'_ (Unsure) "Guess there's only one way to find out, I hope I don't regret this."

Ignoring the hyrax in front of her Shira began wadding through the miniature crowd figuring that if they didn't want to be stepped on they'd move out the way, she wasn't wrong as they parted giving her a straight path to Edge, once she reached him she placed her paw over his neck to see if there was a pulse still resonating within him. The rhythm of a beating heart tingled under her paw and then she noticed one of his ears twitched slightly, next his whole face started twitching rapidly so Shira removed her paw and took a step back just in case he awoke now.

 **Shira** (Thinking) **:** _'He must be having a nightmare, but at least he's alive'_ (Relaxed) "I'll take it from here little guys, he's a friend of the herd."

Not understanding a word the silver saberess had said the hyrax just stood there, twitching their noses and waiting for her to communicate with them, for a second Shira expected them all to scuttle away to get on with whatever they do with their day, then she realised her mistake, rolling her eyes and mumbling something inaudible under her breath. After severing the vines holding Edge to the ground by biting through them Shira lightly bit into the dark grey saber's scruff and dragged him into a drier and more covered area under the tree tops canopy, the little hyrax followed her as she did this and huddled around when she set him down at what they determined to be a safe distance. All there was left to do now was wait, taking a hunched over position a few feet away from Edge she found her paws shuffling around anxiously and was unable to stop herself, her nerves ate away at her making it difficult to become comfortable until the point where she found herself getting up and pacing back and forth in a straight line.

Minutes felt like hours were passing her by as she continued to pace up and down, looking over to Edge she gazed upon the jagged stump which is what remained of his missing left fang, before she had been separated from their birth pack Edge still had both of his deadly canines. Curious Shira wandered over to him and cut the vine restraining his jaw to allow her access to lift up his top lip and inspect the damage that had been done, it looked like it had done a while ago as it had all healed over without a trace of bloodied gums or loose tooth shards. Only a third of the original fang remained however which must make hunting a lot more difficult for him as it would be difficult to land the killing bite, it was never going to grow back in and he most likely carried this permanent scar after a hunting accident.

Before Shira could ponder on this any longer she sees Edge's eyes start to flicker open, his eyes look dilated and unfocused but she still gives him a wide birth, there was no telling how he'd react to waking tied up or with her in front of him. To Edge everything around him was a blur and he had a throbbing headache, groaning in pain he blinked a few times to try to clear up his vision which helped slightly, everything was still hazy though so he tried to reach a paw up to his pounding head, but found his limbs were restrained. With his mind not in a good way he kept obliviously relaxed, quite unaware of his current position right now, Shira sat on the side lines for now to make sure she didn't startle or cause him to panic, slowly Edge recovered and began to remember the events of his last mental breakdown which ended as he threw himself off that cliff.

As his vision became fully clear he noticed a creature creeping closer towards him out of the corner of his eye, sitting his head up to see who the creature was his eyes fell upon the silver saberess from before, the tawny furred saber's mate. Baring his fangs Edge let out a deep roar to warn the saberess not to approach him which sent the hyrax running in fear, but not her, she stopped advancing and looked weary, probably thinking on how she'd finish him in this opportune moment; he wasn't going to let that happen, bending his head down he swiftly attempted to cut the binding vine with his canine. That was until she spoke up.

 **Shira** (Anxious) **:** "Edge wait, it's me, Shira!

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** *Stops trying to bite the vine and looks at the saberess suspiciously.*

 **Shira** (Concern) **:** "What's wrong? Don't you remember me?"

 **Edge** (Distrusting) **:** "…That cub died a long time ago… How do you know her?"

 **Shira** (Sad/Pitiful) **:** *Sigh* "Edge what happened to you? I am THAT cub that was sent adrift on the ice years ago, we were really close friends-"

 **Edge** (Resentful/Hostile) **:** "The only FRIENDS I had in the past were heartless traitors! …I'll ask one more time, HOW do you know that cub and WHO the hell are you?"

 **Shira** (Sad) **:** "Is there any getting through to you? It doesn't matter how many times you demand I AM Shira. *Walks closer and takes a seated position next to Edge* "Even though you don't like or trust me now I still care for you, let me remind you of the fun times me, you, Keel and Alice had together."

* * *

 **The Past (Shira's P.O.V)**

The night we became friends I'd tailed you and Alice out of our pack's cave, I kept low in the grass watching every step I took and you both hadn't the slightest idea you were being followed, I didn't know what the two of you had left for or where you was going, but after I'd seen you both sneak out several other nights I was going to find out why. When you came to a pair of rocks you just sat down and started talking and joking around with each other, after a few minutes had passed I was about to step out of hiding to introduce myself to you both, but then I saw Keel appear out of the long grass so I kept low because I thought another brutal fight was about to kick off. That's when you all shocked me as you guys seemed to become friends all of a sudden and started playing together: I couldn't believe what I was seeing, Keel playing with the outsiders? What was going on? Bitter enemies didn't just become friends, without thinking it thorough I stood up and yelled out, completely blowing my cover.

 **Shira** (Shocked) **:** "KEEL?"

 **Keel** (Horrified) **:** "SHIRA?"

 **Alice** (Worried) **:** "Huh, Shira?"

 **Edge** (Dreading) **:** "Who's she?"

Time must of froze for all of us because you all turned and stared at me but no one said a word, I guess I shocked you guys just as much as you shocked me, after that though you lot started to break down into a panic figuring that I was a spy sent out by Horn. We were all confused and wanted answers out of each other, you started to suspect Keel was hiding something, Keel accused you and Alice of letting your guard's down and I tried to get answers from Keel about what was actually going on, but luckily for all of us Alice managed to defuse the situation.

 **Edge** (Dreading/Accusing) **:** "You invite someone else here Keel?"

 **Keel** (Alarmed) **:** "No, she must've followed you two! I told you both to watch your backs!"

 **Shira** (Defensive/Questioning) **:** "Oh yeah? Why the heck are you here! What's one of Horn's right hand sabers doing out with his enemies huh?"

 **Keel** (Defensive) **:** "Just like you said, they're Horn's enemies, not mine! Edge is my brother and Alice has always been a good friend!"

 **Shira** (Sarcastic) **:** "Ha, what a great brother and friend you are, abandoning them for your own selfish goal of getting stronger!"

 **Edge** (Angry) **:** "Alright I've heard enough! Clearly you've come for a fight, I don't care who sent you, I won't go easy."

 **Alice** (Concern) **:** "Edge, wait!"

I wasn't prepared to fight so I didn't get into a defensive position, if you had attacked me then I was wide open and would have gone down without much of a struggle, but just before you lunged for me Alice called out to you, and you stopped right in your tracks. Then she gave you a look which seemed to soften you up and instantly make you feel relaxed, you gave way to her as she approached me; I didn't know what was going on, but I stood my ground as she briefly looked over me and took interest of the bloody mark on my hind leg.

 **Alice** (Concern) **:** "You're hurt. That mark on your back leg… That was done by Horn and his enforcement gang, wasn't it?"

 **Shira** (Hesitant) **:** "…Yeah, I'm not exactly on their good side most days."

 **Alice** (Confident) **:** "Brainless deer's the lot of them, I wouldn't be surprized if they jumped off a cliff just because Horn ordered them. Hey guys she's alright, she's no spy or friend of Horn at least, if you don't believe me check out this wound inflicted by the enforcement gang."

After that I bounded really quickly with Alice and Keel, they talked and acted as if we'd been friends all this time, but you still didn't trust me at all remember? You kept away from me whilst keeping a cautious eye on my every move, the only reason you didn't voice you're disapproval was because you had full trust in Alice and didn't want to hurt her, right? They noticed that you weren't being yourself because I was there, but they thought you needed another friend and that eventually you'd warm up to me, so they told me when they snuck away each night and invited me to join you guys; I felt so happy and excited, I was finally being accepted and making some friends in that stupid pack.

Eagerly I accepted, so during the day we just kept acting as part of Horn's pack and every night after you and Alice had left Keel I and set off a few minutes later to meet up with you two, no one asked any questions and even if they did we'd just say we were getting in some extra agility or combat a month we kept this up and through this you still gave no signs of accepting me at all, it made things a bit awkward and did upset me even if I didn't show it, but that all changed that one night; that night we had a hunting challenge to see if any of us could catch our first rabbit, we all knew it wasn't going to be easy to catch something so small and nimble, but that was all part of the fun and if we did manage to catch one it'd be a nice treat for us. It was going to be a test of our coordination and teamwork, something we lacked back then because you still didn't trust me and didn't before talking to me, that didn't stop us from going for it anyway so we scouted the area until we found a rabbit's warren.

 **Keel** (Confident) **:** "Alright guys remember the plan?"

 **Alice** (Excited) **:** "Yep sure do, me and you will dig out the side of their warren causing panic until one cracks under the pressure and bolts, Edge? Shira?"

 **Edge:** *Remains silent*

 **Shira** (Calm) **:** *Rolls her eyes* "Me and Edge are going to give chase to the panicked rabbit whilst you and Keel hold back to prevent it from doubling back, then it's just a matter of tiring it out and taking it down once we're close enough".

 **Keel:** "Good, but remember to communicate you two, we don't want it to get away from an error on our part so we need to be of one mind right now."

That was easier said than done I thought, I didn't understand why you and me had been voted the ambushers when we weren't on speaking terms, if communication was our key to success here surely we shouldn't have been partnered together. I felt as if though this was more of a competition between you and me, and after I saw the intense glare you were giving me I'm certain you felt the same way and had no intention of working together on this hunt, regardless we took our positions above one of the exit borrows and waited for Alice and Keel to send one running. Then it all became a blur, everything happened so quickly, all I remember is sprinting as fast as possible to keep up with that fluff ball, darting out of the way of trees, branches and rocky formations whilst the rabbit had no problem squeezing through gaps we had no chance of fitting through.

So far we both kept up with it pretty well and I was starting to gain ground, when I got within a few inches of our prey you deliberately barged into me which knocked me off balance and I lost my footing, you didn't say anything or even bother looking back to check if I was alright. I felt my blood boil up and would've probably picked a fight with you when I caught back up, but Keel began to run alongside me, checking to see if I'd been injured, but he also explained what had happened from where he was standing and why you shoved me out of the way.

 **Keel** (Confident) **:** "Hey Shira, c'mon keep up! You're not hurt are you? You need to get back up front with Edge."

 **Shira** (Enraged) **:** "Didn't you see what jerk just did?! That arrogant prick rammed me just as I had this hunt won for us! Oh I'll catch up to him again and when I do I'll pull his blunt sabers out!

 **Keel:** "So you didn't see him save your life just now huh? If he let you carry on the path you were running you'd have been wiped out."

 **Shira** (Angry) **:** "What are you talking about?"

* * *

 **Fun fact- This is the first scene I've done that's been cut into two halves.**

 **Hoping to get the over half of this scene posted before the end of this month and with college over until the first week of January that should help a bunch, so what did ya think of this (half) scene eh? Let me know by reviewing to tell me ya thoughts, thanks to everyone who has viewed, reviewed, viewed + reviewed, followed and favourited thus far and until next time, sees ya then eh.**


	12. Past Connections (Part 2)

**Merry Christmas everyone! (Or whichever holiday you celebrate!)**

 **Alright, managed to stick to the plan and finished this scene just after Christmas, I have placed part of a song in this scene, if you want to listen to it and/or play it at the time directed it's called 'On Our Way' by The Royal Concept, I'd recommend listen to the opening then skipping to around 2:26 or it won't fit the moment at all.**

 **The second half of Past Connections is now here for y'all to enjoy!**

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 **Scene 11- Past Connections (Part 2)**

 **The Past (Shira's P.O.V)**

 **Keel:** "So you didn't see him save your life just now huh? If he let you carry on the path you were running you'd have been wiped out."

 **Shira** (Angry) **:** "What are you talking about?"

 **Keel** (Shocked/Relieved) **:** "Jeez Shira watch the skies, an Argentavis was headed straight for you. Judging on that things size I doubt it was after the rabbit, if that overgrown bird took off with you you'd have been killed before we could've done anything about it."

 **Shira** (Stunned/Fearful) **:** *Eyes widen as she pictures herself in the talons* "How didn't I see or hear that thing coming?"

 **Keel:** "It's a silent glider and since you were so focused on the rabbit you must have zoned out, I got to say that Argentavis just missed you by mere inches, for a second there I thought it caught you. Don't zone out on us like that again, remember we need to keep focused on our surroundings as well as the target, I think you owe someone a thank you huh? Now go on, catch back up with them."

Unsure of how to react or even believe what I was hearing I gave Keel a small nod and picked up the pace to catch up to you and our quarry, surprisingly it didn't take that long, the rabbit must have been tiring and using its last gasp effort to escape. As you went to strike its hind legs to trip it up the rabbit jumped onto a slanted rock and sprung towards me, as it appeared over my head I saw my final opportunity and I took it, side swiping the fluff ball out of thin air. Before the rabbit even had a chance to get its bearings or get back to its feet you pounced, swiftly biting down on its neck to crush the windpipe and kill it almost instantly, when keel and Alice reached us you throw the dead rabbit at their feet revealing your bloodied fangs; they were clearly happy with our results and that the effort we all put in was rewarded, but as for me… I was just filled with questions yet again.

 **Alice** (Happy) **:** "Way to go you two, I knew ya could get the job done together and to think you doubted them Keel, I told you that this would be a good bounding experience for them and was I right or was I right?"

 **Keel** (Proud) **:** "Well given how they've acted towards each other so far I didn't think placing them together was the smartest idea if we were taking this hunt seriously, that's all, but I'll admit you called it perfectly."

 **Alice** (Pleased) **:** "See, you've spent too much time hanging around that sour puss Horn, you gotta learn to trust your instincts a bit more rather than that overly cautious calculating brain of yours, and nice safe Edge! Your soft side's finally starting to shine through again, you put your life on the line in order to safe Shira and you know it."

 **Edge** (Serious) **:** "…..You expected me to just let her die right then and there?"

 **Shira** (Frustrated/Curious) **:** "Yes actually… It's not like I matter to you anyway, so why didn't you huh? In your eyes I would've been one less obstacle out of the way, right?"

After those words left my mouth a long pause followed, everyone waited for you to respond, not that I expected that you'd answer me, instead of ignoring me this time though you turned to look me directly in the eye then took five steps toward me, the tension in the air slowed time down to a crawl as you came to a stop just a foot away from me. At first all you did was stand there still staring into my eyes within my striking range, thinking that this was some kind of challenge I stood my ground, raised my hackles too look bigger and waited for the next move, but then my eyes locked with yours and I saw this sincere apologetic glint in them; this unusual so called soft side of you had now caught my attention, so lowering my hackles and dropping my aggressive act I sat down to hear you out.

 **Edge** (Caring) **:** "Shira, I'm not a guy that trusts others very easily, as you have seen the only friends that I have are Alice and my brother Keel, they are all I have got in this damned pack, aside from them everyone else is an enemy no matter how friendly they act, but you've proved to be different. Alice said you were different the first night we met, but I had to be sure, I deliberately built a wall between us so if you were Horn's spy I'd have no issue putting you down. It's been a month since you have joined us and with no strange signs appearing I think you have proven loyal to our group, for that I am grateful and will throw myself in harm's way to keep you safe… I am sorry if I hurt you."

 **Alice** (Happy/Amazed) **: …..** *Gasps, runs up to Edge and gently hugs him* "Welcome back there Edge, we all missed you ya know, don't shut yourself off from us again, you're not alone, talk to us when you have to." *Turns back and walks up to Shira* "And Shira, he really is sorry. Even before you joined us he's never been THAT much of a talker, normally he barely says more than a few sentences, he's really poured his guts out to let you know how sorry he is ya know?"

I don't know if anyone there could tell, but my eyes had really teared up and were so close to over flowing with happiness, I didn't want to appear weak in front of you all so I held them back, the frustration and anger that I had been feeling melted and washed away, I had finally earned your trust, acceptance and friendship after a month of being constantly judged leaving a lingering awkward tension in the air that everyone felt, finally you were letting me into your life and not a thing could've made me any happier and ecstatic in that moment, now we were truly a close knit group without any doubt. To get rid of my tears I gently closed my eyes, lowered my head, rubbing my face against my upper left leg before turning to face you all once again.

 **Shira** (Eager) **:** "S-So, we friends now, Edge?" *Raises her paw to shake Edge's*

 **Edge** (Calm/Caring) **:** "We are friends." *Shakes her paw* "Shira."

 **Keel** (Sarcastic/Joking) **:** "Alright, now should we all go around reintroducing ourselves? Or would you two like some time to yourselves."

 **Shira** (Embarrassed) **:** *Pulls away from Edge* "Huh where did that come from?"

 **Alice** (Teasing) **:** "Aw just look at you two, how adorable."

 **Edge** (Amused) **:** *Smirks* "Don't push your luck."

 **Keel** (Confident/Joking) **:** "Hey, bring it on!"

It's funny how much difference a day can make, isn't it? After that day we became fast friends just like it had been a month ago between me, Keel and Alice, from then on time just flew by whenever we all met up, but the best moment that I remember and play over and over again in my mind as clear as day is the time we all went to the lake during the firefly flight. Do you remember? How the night was illuminated by them in their thousands? It was around eight months after we had actually become friends, the meet up went as it always did then we just started racing North, laughing and joking with each other as we went; we didn't put any thought into where we were going and honestly we couldn't have cared less, it was just the four of us alone having a blast together. The further we went the rougher we got, we barged, tackled and tripped each other over to get ahead of the rest, we always made sure not to hurt each other, it was all just good, clean-ish fun.

 **Edge:** *Ducks out of Shira's way* "You will have to do better than that Shira."

 **Shira** (Challenging) **:** "Keep talking, next time you won't be so luck- Ah!" *Keel barges past*

 **Keel** (Joking) **:** "What was that? I can't hear you from all of my dust you're eating, ha. Hey Edge, have you seen Al- W-Whoa! *Trips and rolls along like a ball before regaining control* (Irritated) "Crud!"

 **Shira** (Cheerful) **:** "Ha, she get you two?"

Keel only frowned at me grumpily as a response, Alice was a sneaky one when it came to these kinds of games, with me and Keel now locked into an overly competitive battle for third place it left you and Alice in the lead and gaining a lot of ground over us. Me and Keel were near enough even, unable to barge past or trip the other over we kept neck and neck all the way, but we were also holding the over back and in the end it seemed like there was now two separate races going on because of the distance between us. Our midnight dash continued until we emerged from the tall grass beside a huge lake, but in the midst of our own little competition Keel and I barely noticed the change of scenery; when we joined back up Alice had pounced and had you on your back pinned to the ground, you weren't struggling that much to get out of her grasp though, instead you were both looking out to the lake which, from this angle, shimmered under the moon's mystic.

 **Shira** (Sarcastic) **:** "Thank for waiting for us guys, we couldn't catch up by ourselves."

 **Keel** (Curious) **:** "Is something happening over here? Why have we stopped?"

 **Alice** (Mesmerised) **:** "Look over there will ya!" *Gets off of Edge* "The lake, isn't that the prettiest sight you've ever seen."

 **Edge** (Calm) **:** *Gets up and stands with everyone else* "It feels very calming… But what's that orange glow on the other side?"

Turns out we didn't have to go anywhere to get that question answered for us, a few orange lights started appearing on both our flanks, they were cropping up from the ground, the long grass, the lake reeds; everywhere you could think to look began to light up, these tiny lights gently flickered and then grouped up with more orange lights before heading for the lake. More and more of them just kept coming and coming to the point where there must have been thousands hovering over the lake and around us, we all stood still looking out entranced at this peculiar yet fascinating event before us, then the show began.

 **Keel** (Intrigued) **:** "A full moons out, illuminating the lake… Hmm, this must be a firefly gathering."

 **Play music now**

Now it was like we'd been engulfed in a ball of light, it kept turning as trails of fireflies past over our heads and in between us, to us it became another game as we swatted at the light trails, sending the little beetles scattering into rotating pairs.

 _We are young_

 _We are one_

 _Let us shine for what it's worth_

Again the air was filed with our laughter as we danced around swatting at the little creatures, dazed they spun close to us instead of flying away, so we batted balls of them toward each other.

 _To your place, place, place_

 _We're on our way, way, way_

 _We're on our way, way, way_

 _We're on our way_

In the midst of our fun Alice batted a few at your face, stunned you shook about trying to get rid of them, then she saw an opening and pounced, pinning you on your back once more.

 _This night will never end, this night will never end_

 _This night will never end, this night will never end_

There must have been something going on with you and Alice because when you saw who had you pinned you both locked eyes again, staring, Keel and I just smirked at each other.

 _Hold me close, we're losing time_

 _Hold me close, we're falling to the ground_

I think we both had the same idea of what was happening between you and Alice in that moment, so for once we chose not to poke fun, we'd be able to do that later when you both came back to your senses, as light then dwindled we looked around as the fireflies lights began to die out one by one. Afterwards it must've been time to make our way back because the light hue of the sun rising appeared on the horizon, we may not have got much sleep once we got back, but that long night out had seriously been worth it, there's no way any of us would forget that, do you still have any doubt that I AM Shira? Well, if there is, what about the day I was pushed down the ice tunnel and separated from the pack? It was a few months after the firefly gathering, when everyone had turned two years old, training exercises had been made more frequent as the elders had instructed Horn to start preparing everyone for the annual young blood mammoth hunting ritual.

This was going to be the most important test of our lives, a test between teen sabers that would determine our future place in the pack and if we even belonged in it, there was a high chance of injury and death so coordination and teamwork was essential for survival and success. With Horn being declared the finalized leader of the teen pack it made our lives more difficult, he was now in complete control of planning how every teen trained, who they trained with and was pulling all the tricks he could to make sure neither of us would be the ones to take down the mammoth. He considered Keel and Alice a threat, sabers that could steal his moment of glory and get the elders favour, so in training they were handicapped against two or more strong opponents to wear them out and making their chances of winning slim; but he just plain didn't like you and me, our opponents were weak, picked out to keep us from improving our skills.

The day I was torn from our birth pack, away from Keel, Alice and you, started as just another normal day in a pack that wouldn't care less if you dropped down dead in front of them, fighting practice was at the cliffs close to the sea and I was training with Dan, if that's what you could call it, he spent more time shaking than actually training against me. Alice was directly opposite me, against two members of the enforcement gang, Trish and Paul, she was holding her own when last time I saw her, but something must have gone wrong because a minute later and I saw her flying towards me… I didn't have a chance to move out the way, when we collided I was thrown off my paws and then felt myself sliding along the ice before the sudden drop feeling sunk in, screaming in fear I tried to grip the walls of that ice tunnel with my claws, but I wasn't able to do a thing…

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 **Quickest update I've managed in a while and it feels good, although I am tired as hell after having three late nights in a row with very little sleep, anyway I hope this scene gave you a good impression of how close Shira, Edge, Keel and Alice were in the past and again if you want to let me know your thoughts leave a review.**

 **Thank you to all the fantastic people who have viewed, reviewed, followed and favourited so far and hope y'all have a great new year.**


	13. Reunions

**Hope ya don't hate me to much for the longish wait, but its ready now, the next scene for Unravel.**

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 **Scene 12- Reunions**

 **Shira** (Sorrow/Contempt) **:** "…I fell all the way down, tumbling and spinning from trying to stop myself. When I hit the bottom I found myself floating out to sea on a small chunk of ice, I remember hearing you and Alice calling out to me as I yelled for help, but there wasn't anything that you two could have done. The last voice I heard before drifting out of hearing range was Horn's, the way he mocked me by lying through his teeth and obviously feigning concern still makes my blood boil just thinking about it, all I could do in my helpless state was throw insults and empty threats back at him, it wouldn't faze him but… I made it clear how much I despised him."

As Shira had been retelling the tale of their past Edge had managed to cut loose from his binds and was now sat opposite her, a few feet away out of caution, carefully listening to every single little bit of detail, making sure it matched up with his recollection of events. From what he could tell it was all accurately on point, which could only mean one thing, she wasn't just any saberess; this silver furred saberess was in fact his past friend, Shira. For the first time in his life Edge was unsure of what to do or how to engage his old friend, his minds indecisiveness frustrated him as he suppressed a low growl from escaping. A reunion with a cubhood friend should be a surprising yet happy occasion, but when every friend you have ever known deceives and betrays you in the end it alters how you see others and your view of reality, everyone around you becomes an enemy, everyone in this world only looks out for themselves.

Maybe it was a good thing Shira was cast adrift that day, she was probably in on the act too just as he'd suspected the day she joined up with them, but even though Edge hated to admit it to himself there was still that incredibly small chance that she the only genuine saber in that despicable pack. The small part of him that believed that was holding him back from lashing out, if she was truly his friend he didn't want to hurt her; the more cynical version of himself was trying to burst through and wipe that thought from his brain, wanting nothing more than to strike her down for daring to show her traitors face to him again. On the outside Edge appeared calm and relaxed, just like how Shira had known him to be in the past, on the inside a mental war was raging in his mind and his sanity only deteriorate faster making it harder for Edge to control himself.

 **Edge** (Interested) **:** "…Shira huh? So you did survive, after all this time. When you were sent out to sea I considered it your death sentence, no, it should have been your death sentence. How did you get out of that mess alive?"

 **Shira** (Happy) **:** *Smiles at Edge* "Well you could say that was only the start of my mad journey, after that I was taken aboard this massive ice ship by a crew of many different kinds of animals, their captain was an odd, stinking bearded ape called Gutt. Not having a choice I joined his crew instead of being killed or left for dead, and ya know what? I was pretty damn good at being a pirate, a few short months later and I was given the rank of first mate, life was going great-"

 **Edge** (Thinking/Conflicted) **:** _'What are you waiting for? She's alone and distracted, one of the three that stabbed you in the back, you're not going to get another opportunity like this, strike her down now! NO! If she was an enemy why didn't she finish us whilst we were down? What does it matter? Her bad decision is our gain!'_

Unable to get the voices in his head to shut up Edge raised a paw up to his head and dug his claws into his skull and was unable to stop himself from growling out, Shira was utterly confused at this action, worried she stopped without finishing her sentence and had to ask what was wrong with Edge? After hearing his growls she stands up cautiously, slowly inching forward towards him.

 **Shira:** "Edge? EDGE? What's wrong?"

 **Edge** (Hesitant) **:** *Breaks free from his thoughts and steps away from Shira* "N-Nothing, it's nothing… I-I have to ask you this Shira, how close were you to THEM?"

 **Shira** (Concern) **:** "Them? Them who? Ya mean Keel and Alice?"

 **Edge** (Angry) **:** "WHO ELSE WOULD I MEAN?!"

That tone came out of nowhere and caught Shira off guard, jumping back out of shock she crouched down low to the ground into a defensive position, it wouldn't be good for either of them to fight the other, but was Edge even himself at the moment? Edge then suddenly looked away from Shira; he was unable to look her in the eyes right now, clearly she was intimidated even if she would never admit it, but was Edge feeling ashamed? Letting out a frustrated sigh there was no point in trying to talk now so Edge began to walk away from Shira, back towards the hunting grounds. Shira wasn't ready to let him go yet however, so far this was the only chance she had gotten that allowed her to get this close to him again and she needed to find out what was up with him.

Being a major threat to her family she needed to find a way to defuse Edge, if he attacked and harmed another member of the herd she'd be unable to forgive herself for it, seeing Diego's current state made it difficult just being in Edge's presence thinking about how he was responsible for the pain her lover was in. Shira began to follow Edge, making it blatantly obvious that she wasn't finished with him just yet, she had to play this right, make one wrong move or say the wrong thing here and it could push Edge over his limit and spark an attack. As he sensed Shira was following him Edge came to a standstill, he refused to turn and look at her, but he couldn't seem to force himself to sprint off and leave her behind either; his mind that was clouded by turmoil couldn't work out if or why he still had feelings for this saber who, in hindsight, had always been an enemy.

 **Shira** (Concern) **:** "Hey, err what happened after I was separated from you guys Edge?"

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** "….."

 **Shira** (Concern) **:** "Did something happen between you, Alice and Keel?"

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** "….."

 **Shira** (Caution) **:** "Okay then, what happened to your left fang? Was it hunting accident?"

 **Edge** (Calm/Angry) **:** "…Listen, thank you for looking out for me just now, if you hadn't I'd be dead… Horn knocked my fang out after the teen mammoth hunting ritual, as for Keel and Alice; you know what happened between us… Because you were one of THEM!"

As quick as a flash Edge had turned and pounced at Shira, stunned she failed to move out of the way this time and was shoved aside, although he hadn't un-sheaved his claws indicating that he was holding back, landing on her side she lie there looking into Edge's eyes anxious yet concerned.

 **Shira** (Worried) **:** "Please Edge, let me help you, I can see you're suffering."

 **Edge** (Numb/Conflicted) **:** "You can hide it all you want, but I know the truth. You guys were always against me! Since you are my enemy I should eliminate you without hesitation, but I… Don't want… To hurt you." *Lets out ragged growls* "Argh, no! You are, a loyal, friend, so leave me alone, there's no use trusting me anymore, I can't."

 **?** (Amused) **:** *Deeply laughs* "Long time no see Edge and Shira, you didn't miss us to much have you?"

 **Shira** (Mortified) **:** *Gasps* "No!"

Shira felt her heart stop once she heard that voice again and her eyes almost bulged out of her skull, weakly getting back to her feet and looking to the right her gaze landed upon the one saber she had wished so many times to never see again, there, in the flesh, stood Horn. Unfortunately he wasn't alone either, on her left stood Keel, as ever whilst he was with Horn his face wore a stone cold expression which hid any emotion that he was feeling; what Edge had been saying earlier was suddenly starting to make sense, if this hunch was right Keel must be remorselessly serving under Horn and this wasn't an act. The two of them began to circle Shira and Edge, blocking all their exits and not giving them a chance to flee, Edge gave one dark vengeful look at Keel before focusing his hate filled gaze entirely on Horn, this just served to amuse Horn further as he started to close in.

 **Horn** (Mocking/Hostile) **:** "Hello again to you too our little runt of a brother, and Shira, it's been too long. Last time I saw you was back in our teen years when you were throwing some rather nasty insults at me, it hurt you know, I was so frightened that we were losing one of our most valued pack members, and when I tried to help out that was the thank I got. Not a way to part on good terms."

 **Shira** (Hostile/Defiant) **:** "Aw I'm sorry, how about I make it up to you by keeping my word and rip out those eyes or end your disgraceful life!"

 **Horn** (Hostile) **:** "Ha, still as witty and venomous as ever to the ones you OWE your life to. I kept you fed and gave you the training to stay alive, in return, as a subordinate, all you had to do was be obedient and follow every command I gave you. You've always been a weakling though and just like us elite know, the weak have no rights!"

 **Edge** (Thinking/Annoyed) **:** *Flinches back* _'That stupid line again! Keep telling yourself that elitist, waste of fur, all high and mighty when the odds are in your favour, but as soon as I get my chance-'_

 **Horn** (Bitter) **:** "Moving on, I know how much you'd love to make this all about YOU, Shira, but that's not gonna happen, this is OUR long overdue reunion as brothers, right Edge?"

 **Edge:** *Lowly growls and challengingly steps forward*

 **Horn** (Mocking/Contempt) **:** "Not going to speak to us? Even after all the effort we went to in tracking you down, or wait, wait, wait, let me guess, you've forgot how to talk. Is that it? I mean when Alice saw how pointless it was, helping out the spineless runt that was never going to amount to anything, and fulfilled her potential by submitting and joining us, well… Shows you what everyone actually thinks of a useless, pathetic RUNT doesn't it?!"

Snap, Edge's eyes dilated as his rage boiled over, letting loose the most intimidating roar he could unleash he throw himself at Horn and instinctively aimed for his throat, take out the head and kill the slippery snake was all the planning his thought process could come up with. Horn didn't even flinch and dared to smirk right in Edge's face as he was mere millimeters away from him, a little closer and he'd be a dead saber, but Edge didn't manage to connect as Keel pushed swatted him away and sent him colliding into a far off tree. Edge refused to stay down however and immediately jumped back up into the fray, this time aiming at Keel's front fore leg, he didn't get any further then last time as Horn struck him right in the face with outstretched claws.

Reeling back Edge watching his own blood drop down to the floor in front of him, sinking into the dirt and coating his dark grey fur a crimson red, hissing at the stinging pain emitting from his right cheek and his failure to land a hit he got distracted by a paralyzing rage. Horn took full advantage of this and clawed Edge's right hind leg, a pained roar escaped Edge as he tried to counter by biting Horn's striking paw, but took a chunk out of nothing except air; Shira charged in to help Edge out, but was forcefully pinned down by Keel, to prevent any escape attempts he put mild pressure on her throat as a warning. As the brothers fought on Edge managed to jump onto Horns back, doing as much damage as he could manage by clawing then biting into Horns left shoulder joint; covered in thick layers of muscle Horn just seemed to shrug it off, to get Edge off he slammed his back into the closest tree, but Edge just managed to escape in time.

 **Horn** (Amused/Hateful) **:** "How fun, what a reminder of the good old times with the enforcement gang, the only difference this time is there's no leaving here alive for you two, no elders to stop me from killing you!

Continuing to fight Horn right now would end in his and Shira's death, regaining control of his senses again Edge started to realise this, Horn and Keel were acting as a cohesive unit to effectively pick them apart, they had picked their moment perfectly and attacked when the right opportunity presented itself. Breaking free from Horn wasn't going to be enough to get out of this situation alive, to get away Edge had to cause a distraction of some kind; with Keel pinning Shira down right in front of him this provided the perfect situation to cause that much-needed distraction and get a little pay back at the exact same time. As Horn just missed Edge by the skin of his teeth Edge sprung into the air, as Keel turned his head and noticed who was heading his way he was sent tumbling off of Shira, Keel tried to block Edge's strikes and took a light hit to his right flank before Edge took off for the hunting grounds whilst shouting back to Shira.

 **Edge** (Irritated) **:** "RUN!"

 **Horn** (Annoyed/Commanding) **:** "Keel don't let her escape you!"

Taking a large gasp for breathe Shira looked around to take in what had just happened, Keel was rising back to his feet whilst Edge was running back to the hunting grounds with Horn in pursuit, he seemed to yell something back to her, run? He didn't have to tell her twice and as soon as she sat up she was sprinting back towards the herds cave, Keel was in very close pursuit of her and she knew that with all the agility training this guy did it was going to take a heck of a lot of luck and skill to lose him. There was one thing he didn't have though, that was knowledge of the area, as he was quickly coming into pouncing range Shira made a sudden turn left into a narrow rocky corridor, Keel had to slow down to adjust his position and once he entered the corridor he saw Shira slide under a collapsed wall.

Admiring her speed and agility he followed her through and almost slid right down the sheer drop on the other end, hearing the beating sound of pads sprinting across hard terrain Keel followed the noise left, but Shira remained out of his sight. She couldn't have escaped, he had been right behind her this entire time, but following the trail led him to a dead end of solid rock wall, casting his gaze up after a pebble rolled down the hill he saw a flash of white dash onwards.

A little further and Shira was there, the safety of the herds cave, Keel was still trumped by the terrain and far behind her, things were now looking up. Trees were in the distance and fast approaching, closer and closer, the exit had freedom written all over it and as she sprinted onto the lush greenery relief washed over her, until…

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 **Thank for the kind words IceAge Mutant, Silvershaded and guest, and I hope this scene meets everyone's expectations, but as always let me know what ya think by leaving a review of your thoughts as it is greatly appreciated.**

 **Lots of real life things going on right now, but 'Ice Age 5: Collusion Course' will soon be here, I'm really excited to see this next installment, but I do want to have this story finished before it is released (July 22 2016). To do this I will have to upload one scene per two weeks, so hopefully the pace quickens and I will be able to make this happen, apart from this I don't have too much else to say so... See y'all next time eh.**


	14. The Future?

**Had to sit down and complete this whole scene in near enough one session, hope the qualities still here, now relax and enjoy eh!**

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 **Scene 13- The Future?**

 **?** (Terrified) **:** "AAAHHHHH!"

As Shira came barrelling through the bushes she heard a high pitched wail coming from directly ahead of her, she was just barely able to stop herself before she ended up barraged through the animals, panting out of exhaustion it wasn't hard for her to identify the screams owner. The animals that were standing in front of Shira were a part of her herd, Manny, Sid and her boyfriend Diego, Diego was hobbling along on three legs whilst Sid was attempting to hide behind Manny's trunk for protection, these three always had a bad sense of timing.

 **Diego** (Concern) **:** "Whoa, Shira? What's wrong? You look exhausted."

 **Shira** (Panic) **:** *Panting* "What are you guys doing here?"

 **Manny** (Relieved) **:** "You were gone for hours; we were starting to get worried."

 **Sid** (Dramatic) **:** *Comes out of hiding* "Yeah, we tried to get Diego calm down and rest, but he was so worried about you that he was starting to have a meltdown, until finally he couldn't take it anymore! Staggering to his three paws he left the safety of the cave, dragging us along as well, desperately in search of his ma-"

 **Diego** (Low/Threatening) **:** *Appears close to Sid's face* "Another word out of you sloth and you won't be able to walk."

 **Shira** (Panic) **:** "Guys as cute as that is shut up, you have to get out of here, now!"

 **Manny** (Alarmed) **:** "I knew this would happen, Edge is here isn't he! DIEGO, SID, get back to the cave now, it isn't safe here!"

 **Sid** (Terrified) **:** "WHAT?!"

 **Diego** (Defensive) **:** "Manny I already told you, there's no way I'm backing down and leaving you both behind, this guy is too dangerous."

From behind the bushes Keel had finally caught back up with Shira, hearing the raised voices he crouched low down to the ground being careful not to disturb the shrubbery or step on any twigs, there was more than one animal on the other side of the plant life, probably Shira's new pack members. Getting a glimpse through the greenery Keel got one of the biggest shocks of his life, there arguing stood Shira, another saber, a sloth and a ten-ton mammoth, she'd befriended a really odd group that consisted not only of sabers, but of herbivores too. With odds of survival not in his favour Keel had to hold back, there was no point in dying here trying to get close to her, opportunity would present itself in time; for now all he could do has wait for that opportunity to come along and take it quickly as soon as it presented itself, listening in to the conversation Keel eavesdropped for information.

 **Shira** (Shouting/Upset) **:** "EDGE ISN'T THE PROBLEM!" *Sighs and shamefully lowers her head* "We were right the first time Diego, there are others, and that's not the worst part." *Raises her head with deep sorrow in her eyes* "It's Horn and Keel."

Diego's eyes widened as he began to understand the danger everyone was in with Horn on the island, whilst Manny and Sid looked at each other obliviously, this was the first time they'd heard anything about these two and didn't understand just how threatening they were. Shira's face alone told Diego all he needed to know, she most've ran into them whilst she was out hunting, as the realisation of how close he came to losing her moments ago set in his heart sank, then gruesome images of seeing his family members laying with large claw marks covering their bodies and bite marks puncturing their throats flooded his head. Diego's heart rate sped up dramatically and his breathing became heavier, zoning out the world begun to spin in circles, a nudging feeling brought him back to his senses as he heard Manny call out to him.

 **Manny** (Concerned) **:** "Hey Diego, you alright there?"

 **Diego** (Unconvincingly) **:** "E-Err, yeah. I'm fine, it's nothing."

 **Sid** (Curious) **:** "Who's Horn and Keel? New islanders? When are we going to meet them?"

 **Diego** (Scolding) **:** "SID!"

 **Sid** (Confused) **:** "What?"

 **Shira** (Upset) **:** "If I can help it you'll never meet them Sid. They're saber brothers from my birth pack, Horn's extremely violent and dangerous; and as for Keel… I just managed to escape from him."

The trio could tell it was very difficult for Shira to talk about her past in front of them, all her life she'd tried to keep it buried deep down and avoided the subject matter entirely, she had kept running away from it because of the pain in her heart that she felt thinking about the first true friends she'd lost. Joining the herd, growing close to them all and gaining Diego as her boyfriend had made her the happiest she'd ever been since being separated from Edge, Keel and Alice; it helped numb the pain that ate away at her every day, but now it all came flooding back. There would be no more hiding or running from the past whether Shira liked it or not, old friends and enemies once again collided and to keep her family safe they needed to know the details, whilst Horn was on the island no one and nowhere was safe, but where did Keel actually stand?

 **Manny** (Cautious) **:** "Let's head back to the herd, those other sabers could still be close by and everyone will want to know you're safe."

With everyone nodding in agreement they all began to trail back to the herds cave, Shira came up to Diego to let him lean on her for support again, thankful he gave her an affectionate lick under her neck, she smiled fondly back and tenderly kissed his check as they followed Manny and Sid. When they disappeared from sight Keel stepped out from the bushes, watching them get further and further from view, making a mental note on the fact Shira and the unknown saber were a couple and contemplating what his best move would be now. Following them had the risk of him being caught out deep in their territory, but since he didn't learn much from their conversation he couldn't just turn back now, besides tailing them now would lead him to Shira's home, an invaluable piece of information that would give him the upper hand over her.

 **Keel** (Thinking) **:** _'Even though you've been living with THOSE herbivores, you sure as heck haven't lost you're touch, Shira. I need to make contact with you as soon as possible; if I fail then we all could end up dead.'_

* * *

 **Horn** (Mocking) **:** "That leg wound slowing you down Edge? You seriously weren't this slow before were you? I get a step closer and that is it, I'll kill you! Let me give you a little encouragement to speed up RUNT!"

Finishing another round of mocking Horn slammed into Edge and pushed him face first into a tree, crumbling to the ground Edge was battered and bloodied with hardly any energy left to fight back or flee. They'd made it back to the hunting grounds, but the leg wound that had been inflicted during their fight slowed Edge down tremendously making it almost impossible to ditch Horn, the threats he was throwing were not empty either, if he was not able to evade Horn here he wouldn't hesitate to kill him. The only reason he was still alive right now is because Horn was enjoying revelling in his pain and misery, he was the same callous saber he had been as a cub and teenager, using the little strength he had left Edge shakily picked himself up out of the dirt whilst Horn slowly and methodically stalked towards his helpless brother.

 **Horn** (Amused/Threatening) **:** "Still have some fight left? Come on then, don't you dare just stand there, hit me with your best damn shot."

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** "…" *Glares daggers at Horn and stands his ground*

 **Horn** (Rage filled) **:** "Yes? Something wrong with your hearing as well as your tongue? HIT ME!"

He never was good at being discrete; Edge was no idiot and knew as soon as we got a step closer he'd be smacked right back down again before being hit with the finishing death blow, instead he glared at Horn and his escape plan. Behind Horn was a herd of gazelle, running between them would cause panic and confusion, in the midst of the commotion he would be able to slip away unnoticed, the only problem was the his big overgrown brother was blocking the way, but it was the only chance Edge had of making it out of this alive.

 **Horn** (Hostile) **:** "Oh don't look at me like that, we both know you had this coming, we've competed ever since we were cubs. Nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition they say, but the only thing is you got in my way at every turn didn't you?"

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** *Shakes head whilst keeping his spiteful look trained on Horn*

 **Horn** (Bitter/Mocking) **:** "Ha, still stuck in denial huh? Let's go over it from the beginning then, okay? You refused to fall in line and tried becoming leader, you somehow held onto Alice the second best fighter in the group, well until she turned against you, right? Aw, I'm so sad for you."

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** *Begins growling, baring his fangs and raising his hackles*

 **Horn** (Outraged) **:** "None of that is actually what this is about though; maybe I can even forgive you for all of that because after all time fixed those little issues, it's about the final time you got in MY way. Oh ho, the biggest event of my life and you RUIN IT! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO KILL THE MAMMOTH AND TOOK UP MY TRUE PLACE AS FUTURE PACK LEADER, BUT YOU STOLE THAT FROM ME!"

 **Edge** (Silent) **:** *Allows a brief smirk to cross his mouth*

 **Horn** (Bitter/Threatening) **:** "That's FUNNY to you is it? Try smirking when I sink my fangs through your throat."

Charging in Horn moved to finally finish Edge off once and for all, in his rage he allowed his anger to fully control him which provided Edge with an opening and a chance to get away, when he was close Horn pounced and aimed for his targets head. Raising up on to two legs Edge meet him head on, having momentum on his side and being the heavier of the two Horn pushed him to the ground, however Edge used this momentum against him and immediately kicked up against Horn's mid-section and reversed their position. When they flipped and Edge was on top he bolted straight towards the gazelle herd and Horn quickly got back to his paws to chase him down, in a straight-line dash Horn would be faster right now and catch up in no time; with this in mind Edge kept zigzagging through trees and rock formations to keep as much distance between them as possible.

After a few near misses Edge was home clear, but then Horn leapt out from atop one of the rock formations and landed another strike, this time his outstretch claws ripped into Edges right flank, roaring out from the pain he accidently alerted the gazelle herd. Once the timid herbivores caught sight of two sabers running full speed at them they began to get alarmed, mothers ran for their young and the entire herd went into full on panic mode, as they stalled the predators got closer. One of the gazelle suddenly took off towards the north and in a frantic flurry of hooves and antlers the rest blindly followed, to take full advantage of this Edge headed for the middle of the herd; sprinting with all his will he was on a collision course with the gazelle herd, but Horn wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.

Timing his entrance perfectly Edge barged into the centre of the herd and ran against them, not fazed in the slightest Horn followed along, most of the horrified gazelle parted around them whilst a few of the dimmer ones risked charging at them. The amount of fatal injuries they could sustain if hit head on by just one of these gazelle wasn't lost on them, they could even be trampled to death in the worst case scenario, but for survival/revenge they were willing to lay their lives down on the line right now in this moment. Inching his way closer Horn went to take another strike at Edge when one on the dim gazelles took the blow as it dashed in the way, this surprized Horn and knocked him off balance; seeing his quarry begin to slip away he felt his rage boiling up once again, pushing him to pick up the pace.

 **Horn** (Vengeful) **:** "GET BACK HERE YOU SPINELESS RUNT! THIS ENDS NOW!"

Getting directly behind Edge to avoid another mistake Horn was closing in; there was nowhere to run now with gazelle on both sides, the gap between the two became narrower and narrower and in the end it was inevitable that Horn was coming out of this on top. At least that's what he thought, but just as he entered striking range again Edge all of a sudden crouched down and began to slide, swiftly raising his head up Horn soon got the reason why, a jumping gazelle flew through the air; neither off them being able to move out the way the gazelle ploughed straight through Horn. Wiped out he hit the ground with a sickening thud, keeping low to the ground he was dazed but forced himself to roll out of the way and avoid the rest of the herd that was hurtling at him, he was lucky he was as bulky as he was or that impact would have killed him.

Minutes later the herd had past Horn by and left him standing in the dust cloud they'd kicked up, most would be thankful to have made it out of that alive, but Horn was less than satisfied with the result, Edge was still alive and had out witted him again. Eyebrow twitching he checked every direction for any signs that his weakling brother was still around, but there was nothing here apart from him, unleashing a monstrous roar that echoed through the entire island Horn let out all his built up anger for Edge to hear.

 **Horn:** "EDGE, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME SO LISTEN WELL! HOW MUCH LONGER DO YOU THINK YOU CAN AVOID ME? YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN AWAY TODAY, BUT I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN NO MATTER WERE YOU DAMN WELL HIDE AND TEAR YOU APART!"

Hidden in the tall grass close by Edge lay prone, slinking away ever so slowly due to his injuries and to avoid catching Horn's attention, his plan had worked out well today, but now Horn was prowling the exact same island as him. Both despised the other and there was no chance in hell of them getting along, there was nowhere near enough space on the island for the two of them; sooner or later it would all come down to a final showdown, a single bloody battle were either one of them or none of them were going to walk away alive.

The past had already played out, but the future for one of them was going to be cut short…

* * *

 **This marks around 2/3 of the story finished, delayed again but it is here and I'm happy and I hope ya enjoyed! Yeah, I'm tired now.**

 **Thanks again for reading and reviewing and all the good shtuff mates, review this scene to tell me how do you actually see this story ending, I'm curious to how ya think this will all end, aside from that I'll see y'all next time eh, byes for now!**


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